Everybody Needs Somebody to Love
by Zan Artemis
Summary: AUDaiSato. Baby, you're all that I want, When you're lyin' here in my arms, I'm findin' it hard to believe, We're in heaven...And love is all that I need, And I found it there in your heart. It isn't too hard to see, We're in heaven...
1. I

Z/N  
This is a _very_ loose fanfic over DNAngel. In this story, Daisuke is an orphan who has never fallen in love, and therefore could never transform into Dark (I'm sowwie. Maybe Dark will make an appearance later?).

**Warning: **This is a Satoshi x Daisuke yaoi fic. Yaoi involves a male/male relationship (a.k.a. gay, shaych, homosexual). If you find yaoi offensive, do not read this story, and do not send flames. If you continue to read this even if you find yaoi offensive, I don't want to hear about it.

Thank you, and please enjoy the story.

* * *

Thunder roared overhead as lightning whipped across a midnight velvet sky. The back door to the house slammed shut so hard the lights inside flickered before regaining their strong, steady brilliance. Angry voices followed, flowing outside the walls of the home, but nobody really cared what he did or didn't do.

Hands shoved into his pockets, sixteen-year-old Daisuke Niwa stormed down the street, rain puddling around him. Within moments his flame-red hair was saturated, plastered onto his face in straggly ribbons streaming cold rainwater down his cheeks to mingle with angry tears. He ignored it all.

_They don't know, _he thought. _They don't have to deal with it… The pain, the torture, the anguish… The fires burning deep in my heart that nothing can quench. Nothing can quench it; not now, not ever. And even if they _did _know, would they care?  
_The answer was simple, one syllable, a word he'd been babbling ever since he could talk: _No._

Lightning flashed across the sky in a brilliant fork of a snake's tongue. The streetlights sparkled uncertainly before going black entirely. Every light that had been on in a house went dim to be replaced momentarily by the uncertain wavering of a single candlewick's flame, dancing chancy rhythms in the faint breezes of people's breaths. The street was dark.

He didn't need the light, though. What was light, anyway? Just the illumination of what was dark. What was dark? Death was dark. Despair was dark. Life was dark. And love…

Love did not exist in Daisuke's world.

He kept walking.

Soon his clothing was sopping, trying to weigh him down. His thin black trench coat hung with a fraying hem around his feet, swaying as he walked, rubbing against his soaked pants legs. The skin on his legs was getting chafed; he could feel the angry scratches already, stinging and biting at his nerves with every step he took.

The thin silver cross that hung from the slender braided silver chain around his neck slipped beneath the collar of his shirt, chilling the skin over his breast. The cross had nothing to do with the church; he couldn't care less about religion half the time. The necklace was a gift, the only thing left to remind him of his mother. She had been a churchgoer, a believer. But there was nothing left for Daisuke to believe in.  
A car drove by down the road, jetting past the frustrated teen. A solid wave of water splashed over him, nearly knocking him over a step or two. As sound caught up, the sound of the vulgar horn of the car blared in Daisuke's ears. He ignored all of this and kept walking.  
Sheet lightning blanketed the sky, bathing the world in light momentarily, just long enough for Daisuke to gain his bearings. There was a park not too far away from here. He turned onto an adjoining street and continued walking.

The power was out down this street was well, it seemed. All for the better, in his opinion. As the park loomed closer, illuminated now and then by the occasional lightning flash, Daisuke felt himself beginning to relax for the first time in a long time. Maybe it was just that he'd needed to get out of that house, away from those people.

Wet gravel crunched underfoot as he made his way across the playground, past the jungle gym, beyond the teeter-totter, and behind the merry-go-round. He seated himself on one of the black rubber swings and pushed his sopping ruby locks from his violent red eyes. A deep sigh filled his lungs. Thunder boomed, shaking the earth for a second, as he leaned down and scooped up a handful of the pebbly gravel.

He threw the rocks one by one into the dark abyss that was the world beyond the rain and rocked himself in the swing with one foot. Daisuke wasn't all that tall and his toes could barely reach the stony ground, resulting in his swinging slightly in a circle. He leaned his head against the chain holding up the swing and sighed, closing his eyes. _They don't understand. They could never understand me.  
_The social workers had come again earlier on that week, to "check up on him." Really that meant they were speaking with his new fosters to make sure he wasn't getting into too much trouble. The Sunoas were his twelfth "family" in seven years, ever since he'd first been fostered out. He'd spent six years prior to that first foster family in an orphanage in a small town. Ever since he could remember he'd been alone. One of the nuns that belonged to a local cloister had found him wandering around a shady neighborhood after church one rainy day and had graciously taken him by the hand and escorted him to the orphanage, where he was given fresh dry clothes, warm food, and a soft bed to sleep in.

From then on it had been a schedule of three meals a day, a naptime, and a rigid education agenda so strict one could set their watch by it. Some of the other children teased Daisuke because of his hair and eyes, matching shades of ruby red. To these he usually retaliated with fists rather than words, often landing him in worse trouble than the original ringleader, and usually in the nurse's office. By the time Daisuke turned seven, he'd broken both arms at least once, three fingers, his nose (twice) and had a black eye at least once a week. His victims were usually in worse shape.

Daisuke hummed the refrain to a popular song as he let the soothing rain fall on him, washing away his anger. He'd have to go back sooner or later, he reasoned. But why not stay out a bit longer and enjoy the rain? Lightning flashed across the sky; thunder bounced off the park equipment. Daisuke stood and climbed up onto the jungle gym, swinging agilely around the plastic and metal pieces until he sat in the sheltered alcove of the brilliant yellow twisty-slide. Sheltered from the direct downpour, he delighted in the light spray on his face and settled back to watch the lightning show.

Z/N  
A bit short, but that's all right, first chapters usually are. . Satoshi comes in later, prolly in the next chapter. Just so everybody knows, I only have the first two mangas of DNAngel, being as only the first two are out in English yet, (At least, my local Waldens Books only has the first two, and I bought them out of the second one.) and I was never lucky enough to catch the anime version, so whatever I write will be based on the characters of Daisuke and Satoshi as they are in the first two mangas. Thankies, and please read and review!


	2. II

Z/N

Thankies to all of you who've reviewed! . You like me, you really like me! Does a happy dance (I can't use the stars anymore, the program won't read them, so all actions in the notes are henceforth underlined.) Okay, enough playtime, let's get onto chapter two!

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Chapter II

Ugh… Why is it so cold?

Daisuke was slow to wake the next morning, even with the bright sunlight pouring directly into his eyes and the bird song chirping abrasively in his ears. When he tried to roll over to avoid these disturbers of the peace, he realized why it was cold: He was wet. His hands came into contact with hard plastic rather than the semi-soft mattress on his bed. Brilliant red eyes opened wide. He was still lying on the slide where he'd watched the lightning last night. Had he fallen asleep?

Well duh _you fell asleep, you dolt, _he thought as he stiffly pulled himself up. The rainwater that had collected on the slide sloshed down to re-soak his damp pants, streaking the lighter cloth with mud and grime. Blearily he looked at his watch.

"Eight fifty?! I'm going to be late!" After a moment of scrabbling, he extracted himself from the slide and was up and running towards his school, unmindful of the hindering soaking clothing on his body. A playful breeze cut right through him as he dashed down the deserted streets.

Usually Daisuke didn't particularly care one way or the other about school. More often than not it just got him into more trouble. But today… today he _really _wanted to go. His Physics class was taking a field trip to an amusement park as a hands-on demonstration of how physics connected with day-to-day life. Daisuke had never been to an amusement park and hoped it would be as fun as everyone said it would be. He had his reservations, of course, but still… Why be a pessimist when he could enjoy _one _day away from it all? Tomorrow he could go back to being himself; today he wanted to be someone else.

Just as the school bell tolled across the field, Daisuke arrived at the end of the block. _Damn! If I don't get there soon, Professor might not let me go! _He slipped into the building through an open window in an empty classroom, then dodged the security guards and principals patrolling the way to his locker. Along with his gym clothing, Daisuke kept an extra pair of clothes, just in case something like what had happened last night occurred. He pulled these into his arms and changed quickly there in the hall, then dumped the wet clothes in a trash can. He never liked them, anyway.

He stopped in the restroom on his way to his first hour Literature class. His hair was a mess, and without a comb there was no way to really salvage it. Exasperated, he shoved his fingers through the damp ruby locks and resolved to hack the whole thing off as soon as possible. _Oh well, there's not a whole lot I can do about it now. _Once the tresses were more or less out of his eyes, Daisuke pushed out of the restroom and sauntered towards his classroom.

Suddenly he was being jerked around the corner and slammed up against the lockers. His books fell out of his arms as he emitted a startled squeak and blinked up at his captor. A boy with blue eyes, just a few shades darker than a powder, stood over him, shielding Daisuke's body with his own. The other boy, maybe one or two inches taller than Daisuke at the very most, was staring down the hall intently. Daisuke blinked and blushed faintly. _Satoshi? What's he doing?_

Just then the vice-principal for their grade strolled by. He stopped and grinned broadly, one hand going to the back of his head. "Satoshi Hiwatari! What are you doing out of class?"

"Nothing, Vice-Principal Sugisaki. Just getting a few of my Physics books to take to the library—this is my study hall, after all, and I have Physics next. I've just transferred to second period Physics and would like to make sure I'm caught up on my work." Satoshi kept his body carefully positioned directly in front of Daisuke's, concealing the redhead completely. "Don't make a sound," he muttered under his breath at Daisuke, "unless you _want _to get caught and kicked off the tip to Shanikusai."

"All right, Detective, just don't take too long. Can't do you _too _many favors, now can we?" The principal laughed and went on with his rounds.

Satoshi let out a sigh of relief and stepped back from Daisuke. "What are you doing sneaking into school? I saw you come in through Miss Yukiru's window." His blue eyes, which perfectly matched his hair, narrowed suspiciously behind his thin glasses.

Daisuke avoided his eyes uncomfortably and stepped to the side. "It's none of your business, Satoshi-goody-two-shoes. Leave me alone, okay?"

The detective's hand snaked out and grabbed Daisuke's arm just above his elbow. He pulled the younger boy back to him and glared at him over the rim of his glasses. "Look, jerk, I didn't stick my neck out sneaking you past Sugisaki for you to blow me off. Stop acting like a kid, okay?" Then he shoved away from the confused sixteen-year-old and stormed off, muttering darkly.

Daisuke stood there for a moment, blinking, then rolled his eyes and bent to scoop up his work. _Dumb Satoshi. It's not like I _asked _him to play the hero. I would've done just fine without him. He thinks he's so great because he's a police detective. Mister high-and-mighty, nose-in-the-air, head-to-big-for-his-hats. _His papers were scattered everywhere from where Satoshi had knocked the notebooks and folders out of his arms. One paper caught his eye. It was a soft pastel green color, folded up small. He shrugged and shoved it in his pocket, then stood. _Now I'm _really _late for class._

When he arrived at Mrs. Oban's Literature class, Daisuke slipped in quietly, hoping to avoid notice. He slipped into his seat in front of Riku Harada and opened his notebook. The teacher, an elderly little lady who usually came to school in kimonos instead of proper business clothing, stood at the blackboard writing something down. She had a paper airplane sticking out of the wiry gray bun at the back of her head, but Daisuke doubted she knew or cared.

Riku, a pretty girl with short red-brown hair and bright brown eyes, leaned forward and tapped his shoulder. "Where've you been, Daisuke?"

"Doctor's appointment." The lie flowed smoothly from his lips. Riku settled back and popped a loud bubble with her gum.

"_Miss _Harada!" Mrs. Oban turned around and fixed Riku with her sternest glare. "If I've _told _you once, I've _told _you a _thousand times. No gum is allowed in my class. _Now, go spit it out."

Riku fixed the crotchety old teacher with a wide-eyed look of innocence. "Why, but Mrs. Oban, _I'm _not Riku! Riku is my sister! I'm _Risa. _We're twins, remember?" Riku and Risa Harada actually were twins, identical for the most part except that Risa wore her hair longer and darker than Riku, and their personalities were total opposites. Risa was the sweetest thing when it came to teachers, never broke a rule. She was the school-wide teacher's pet.

Usually this fabrication worked and Riku would get away with whatever she'd done. Usually the teachers were bought in. But usually she didn't use this excuse on the disagreeable old Literature teacher.

There was no warning, really. One moment Riku was sitting there with her eyes closed and a peace sign in her fingers, calmly explaining to the teacher that she was her twin, and the next there was a dull _pink _and Riku was lying on the floor, eyes stunned. There was a white mark on her lightly tanned forehead from where the piece of chalk bounced off it. The chalk itself, broken in three places now, was found moments later lying under one of the other students' desks, all the way across the room. Daisuke swallowed his laughter and grinned.

"Find something _funny _do you, Niwa?" Mrs. Oban snapped at him, black eyes blazing.

Instantly the smile was gone from his face. "No, ma'am! Nothing funny at all!" He picked up his notebook to hide his head, but it was too late. Another piece of chalk bounced off his head between his eyes, but this one had less force behind it than the one that hit Riku. Still he lay on the ground as well, stunned slightly.

"Well," the teacher said, clapping the dust off her hands, "now that _that's _settled, is there _anybody else _who wants to say or do something?"

The entire class came immediately to attention. They weren't sure how much chalk the little old lady had, but they weren't about to find out. "Ma'am, no ma'am!"

The antique schoolmistress's bad mood dissipated and she grinned, holding up her hand in a peace sign. "Good! Now, let's get back to Robert Frost." The class let out a silent groan and all slumped back into their seats as she turned back to the board and began writing once more.

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Daisuke had Physics second period. When he went back to his locker after his first class, he made sure he packed everything in his locker he'd want to take with him: his CD player, many CDs, his manga books, and his wallet. Once assured, he pulled the bag onto his back, pushed his hair from his forehead, and stalked on down the hall towards Professor's class.

When he pushed the door open and entered the room, most of the class had already assembled. Risa Harada was standing in the corner, carefully pressing an ice pack to her twin's forehead. _She didn't get hit _that _hard, _Daisuke thought as he gently prodded his own welt, which was already starting to throb. Daisuke's friend Takeshi, a boy with the body of a linebacker and the face of a half-angel, black hair and dark eyes, was sitting on his desk, loading film into his camera. Takeshi was a successful reporter for a local news station and took care of the high school class news, so the trip to the amusement park was _excellent _material for his next story. Takeshi and Daisuke weren't really great friends, but they could stand each other.

Takeshi glanced up as Daisuke put his bag down on his own desk and began pawing through to find an empty spiral notebook. "Hey man, you're late."

"Long day." Daisuke finally gave up and put everything back in his bag. "Oh well, I'll find something later."

Professor, a young, energetic man with the body of a dancer, laughing green eyes, and black hair cropped short, clapped his hands to get everybody's attention. "Okay, okay, class, settle! We're going to be divvying you up into pairs for the day. Now, you _must _stay with your partner at all times during the day. If I find out that at _any _point in time _any _of the students was wandering around by his or herself—and I _will _find out, I have my sources—_both _that student and his or her partner will be put on the bus for the remainder of the day." As the class gave a collective groan, he continued, "This is only for your own safety." But since Professor's class was everyone's favorite, they were willing to forgive him this transgression into uncoolness and go along with his plan.

"And so, your pairs will be thus." Professor glanced at a paper on his clipboard and read off, "Risa and Takeshi. Riku and Yusuke. Lain and Tenshi. Kizume and Mihoshi. Kiyone and…" The list went on and on until Daisuke was the only one left unpaired. He sat on his desk, arms crossed over his chest, waiting. But still his name was not called.

Professor was packing up his clipboard as the class separated off into their pairs. Daisuke pushed off his desk and walked over to the teacher, his thumbs linked through his belt loops. Trying to appear casual and as if it didn't really matter, he said quietly, "Um, Professor? You didn't call my name…"

Professor glanced up. "Daisuke, I'm sorry, I thought I did. I didn't see you come in… Oh yes. Your name's not on the list because you were the extra—this class has thirty-nine students, after all."

"So I can go by myself?" Hopes rose within Daisuke.

"Now weren't you listening to me?" Professor laughed and shook a finger at Daisuke. "If I wouldn't let the other students wander off by themselves, why would I let you? It's for your own safety." He smiled. "You'll be paired with me."

Daisuke's stomach promptly dropped. Not the _teacher! _No matter if said teacher was the coolest in school, it was still damn embarrassing to have to tag along with the _professor _all day! He'd be stuck listening to lectures on things he didn't understand! Daisuke sighed and stumbled over to Takeshi and Risa after a muttered "Yes, sir."

"So Risa, do you like roller coasters?" Takeshi was asking.

Risa squealed, "No! They scare me! What if it breaks while I'm on it?" She shuddered.

Riku wandered up behind her twin, her partner in tow. "Yusuke is chicken, too. Here, Risa, I have a plan." Riku turned and dug out two identical caps from her bag. She placed one on Risa's head and tucked her hair up under it, then did the same to her own. Now unless one knew the slight variation in their voices and who was wearing what, they couldn't be told apart. "Now," Riku said, "we'll switch. You and Yusuke can pet the ponies for all I care, and Takeshi and I will ride the roller coasters!"

"Um, okay," Risa said hesitantly. "Are you sure we won't get caught?"

"Not if you keep your big mouth shut," Riku snapped back. "Besides, we'll both have partners, they just won't be our assigned ones. Now." She stepped over to Takeshi and linked her arm with his. "Shall we sit on the bus, Takeshi?"

"Um, yeah, sure." Takeshi grinned and escorted her out the door. Yusuke sighed and offered his hand to Risa, who took it. The two of them disappeared out the door.

Daisuke sighed and made to follow. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, spending the day with Professor.

"Hey, Daisuke!" Professor's voice rang out over the chattering students. "Come back here a minute, will ya? I got great news!"

The redhead sighed and pushed his way back through the crowd. "Yes, Professor?"

Professor was nearly jumping up and down. "I found you a different partner, Daisuke. You'll be paired with him." He pointed across the room at a boy standing facing the window. The teen's head was covered with a black cap that patched his tshirt and jeans perfectly. Midnight blue sneakers covered his feet. "Now," Professor continued, "you two'd best get on the bus before all the good seats are taken." He bounced off, cheerily muttering about funnel cakes and strawberry new orleans.

Daisuke wandered over to his new partner, wondering whom it was standing at the window. He stopped when he was standing directly behind the teen. "Hello?"

The boy turned slowly and smiled. "We meet again, Daisuke Niwa."

Daisuke's ruby eyes widened with surprise. "You!"

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Z/N

I thought it was kinda cute that "Oban" means "bitchy old hag." Shanikusai translates to "Carnival," and Sugisaki is the author of the D.N.Angel mangas. . Just sos ya know, I altered Satoshi, Risa, and Riku's personalities. THEY ARE NOT THE SAME AS THEY ARE IN THE MANGAS. THIS IS ON PURPOSE.

I decided to keep the paragraphs separate—makes reading easier. At least I think it does. Thankies, and please R&R!!


	3. III

The boy raised an eyebrow. "Well, yes, me. Were you expecting Santa Claus, maybe?" He laughed quietly and shifted the bag on his back.

Daisuke flushed and looked away. _Damn! Why Satoshi? Since when has he been in my class, anyway? And why does he always make me feel like a foolish child? _He sighed and walked over to his desk to scoop up his bag. "Guess we'd best get on the bus."

Satoshi was suddenly there, seizing the redhead's bag before Daisuke's hand curled around the top handle. "Let me get that for you. There's hardly anything in it. Besides, that means you can open the door for me, if you'd be so kind."

Grumbling to himself, Daisuke obediently went over to the door and held it open for Satoshi. He bowed mockingly and sneered, "Here you are, your highness. Your carriage awaits."

A laughing gleam in his blue eyes, Satoshi managed to keep a straight face as he swept regally by Daisuke. "Thank you, peon. Oh, and…" He boxed Daisuke's ears gently. "That's for being insolent."

Daisuke could only stare after him as the detective walked away. Once Satoshi was well out of earshot, a slow chuckle escaped Daisuke's throat. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad day after all…

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"Do you want the window or aisle?"

Daisuke looked up from where he'd been staring at the filthy charter bus floor. Who knew chewed gum could come in so many colors? For a moment he considered, then shrugged. "It isn't important. It's not going to be a long bus ride, right? So what's it matter?"

Satoshi stared at him over the rim of his glasses. "Not going to be a long bus ride? Daisuke, how far away do you think the amusement park is?"

The redhead shrugged. "I don't know, a few miles?"

"A few miles? A few _miles? _Daisuke, Shanikusai is _three and a half hours away. _Is that your opinion of a short trip?"

"Um…" He bit his lip and sighed. "Which do you prefer?"

"It doesn't matter to me."

"Fine, I'll take the window." Daisuke slid into the double seats of the charter and pulled his bag into his lap. The boy managed to extract his CD player and CD case before the detective appropriated his bookbag and shoved it in the overhead rack. Making a face, Daisuke placed inside his Discman a CD of Finch and pushed the fast-forward button until the familiar chords of "What It Is To Burn" floated through his ears. He slumped in his seat until his knees came up against the back of the chair in front of him and rested his forehead against the cool glass of the window. _Three and a half hours sitting beside the prig, _he thought. _Great. Exactly what I wanted. _

Satoshi stood in the aisle for a moment, watching Daisuke closely, and then shrugged. He easily put his duffel bag in the compartment and pulled a book—a mystery novel, what else?—out of the side zipper pocket. He slid into his seat beside the redhead and opened the book to a middle page. Professor stood on his tiptoes to take a headcount and soon the bus was underway.

v v v v v v v v v v v v v

It was an hour before they stopped to allow the cheerleaders a bathroom break to fix their makeup and to let the others cruise the rest stop for food and drinks. Satoshi purchased a bar of chocolate and a bottle of water. He glanced over and saw Daisuke staring rather longingly at a pack of beef jerky. He walked over to the younger boy.

"Hey, Daisuke, are you going to get anything?"

Daisuke pulled his black leather wallet from his pocket and opened the billfold. There wasn't much money there. He glanced up at Satoshi. "Nah. I'm saving my money for the amusement park—I guess we'll have to buy tickets or something." With a slight _tsk_ and a gentle shake of his head, Satoshi watched the other boy wander away, and then went to grab a few last-minute items.

Riku was sitting up on the checkout counter, flirting openly with the cashier, who looked rather flustered. He was trying to ring up Risa's M&Ms and was becoming rather flustered, as Riku's skirt kept getting higher…and higher…and higher…. Finally, flushing herself, Risa yanked Riku off the countertop and shoved her into Takeshi, who had been leaning against the chip aisle, enjoying the view of the show. Riku stuck her tongue out at her twin and smiled winningly at Satoshi. "Well _hi _there, Satoshi! Didn't you already buy some snacks?"

The blue-eyed detective held up his bag, a grin on his face. "Well, I didn't know they had these when I bought the chocolate. Now I'm all set."

"I see." She left Takeshi's side and sidled up beside Satoshi. Her voice a low, seductive purr, and said, "Wouldn't you rather sit with _me _for the rest of the trip? I have a nice little single-person seat in the _very _back…." Her hand brushed up his hip lightly.

Satoshi's eyes shot open and he squeaked, "Well, if it's a single seat, we couldn't both very well sit in it, now could we?"

Her eyes gleamed an obvious invitation. "I could sit in your lap…."

"I'll keep that in mind." He pushed his pulled his glasses off and put them in his bag. "I'll see you around, Riku." And with the wind of the front door, he was gone.

"Well _damn _it," Riku pouted, snapping her fingers. "He was _so _close…He _can't _want to sit with Daisuke?! That kid is just _weird._"

"Riku! That's not nice!" Risa squealed. "And don't you say that!"

"What, dammit? Hey, Risa, reality check." Riku rolled her eyes. "We're sixteen now, like anybody's going to care. Dammit, dammit, dammit!"

"No!" Risa covered her ears and ran out of the store, tears glimmering in her chocolate eyes. "I'm calling _Mommy!_" Yusuke looked panicked and watched after her, then chased her down, calling her name.

"What a baby." Riku shrugged and walked back to Takeshi. "The both of them. Anyway, shall we?"

v v v v v v v v v v v v v

The bus was on its way again and Daisuke had his earphones blaring Good Charlotte's "Emotionless" and mouthing the words to it. His head was bobbing along with the music. He and Satoshi hadn't said a word since the store, the latter of the twain being buried in his book once more. Daisuke's stomach growled, reminding him once more that he hadn't eaten since lunch the prior day, being that he'd walked out of his house without eating dinner the night before and had slept in the park.

His seatmate tapped him on the shoulder. Daisuke looked over at him, not even bothering to take off his headphones. "What?" "Emotionless" ended but began again as he pressed the rewind button. The programming system on this Discman didn't work anymore, so he had to do it the hard way.

Satoshi picked up the second bag from the rest stop and dropped it into Daisuke's lap, then went back to his book. The redhead sat up straight and pulled the headphones off. The bag contained cereal bars, jerky, candy, water, and a soda. Daisuke looked up at the older boy, but the detective seemed engrossed in his novel once more.

"Satoshi, I can't accept this. I don't want your charity." But it was like talking to a brick wall for all the notice he was afforded. Daisuke's stomach rumbled again, but he pointedly ignored it. "Fine," he told the detective. "I'll put it in the floor, but I _won't _eat it. Got that?" He dropped the bag into the floor at his feet and slumped in his seat, headphones going securely over his ears.

The blue-haired boy glanced up from where he'd been reading the same sentence over and over, his mind not really on the literature. He'd heard Daisuke but ignored him. In truth he didn't know why he'd bought that stuff for the boy, but he had and those were the facts. No big deal. And if Daisuke wanted to starve, that was his business.

But a small smile curved his gentle lips upward as he watched the boy who was staring out the window bite into the cereal bar with obvious relish when he thought the detective wasn't looking.

v v v v v v v v v v v v v

Halfway there they stopped for lunch, but hardly anybody wanted off the bus, since they'd gotten their snacks. Satoshi and Daisuke ordered milkshakes from the McDonalds (Daisuke's treat—his way of paying the older boy back for the snacks) and reclaimed their seats, staving off the couple that'd appropriated them for making out during the break. Professor was currently snoozing in his seat up front. The twin had exchanged seats, so now Satoshi stared blankly out the window while Daisuke was bashed with every bookbag that came down the alleyway.

Ten minutes further down the road Daisuke fell asleep. He was curled up on his side, his head resting on the armrest. Satoshi glanced down at him and smiled gently, lightly stroked his hair. The redhead flinched, yawned, and stretched, then sat up. His eyes were still closed, a testament to his unconscious state. He moved closer to Satoshi and laid his head on the detective's shoulder. Satoshi stared at him, china-blue eyes wide, then slowly relaxed, rested his cheek on the crown of the redhead's head, and went back to his book.

v v v v v v v v v v v v v

Z/N

Please Note That I Have Changed My Pen Name To Zan Artemis. Thank you. . Anyway, this next week I'm gonna be home all by my lonesome (bro's goin off to ROTC camp, whoo hoo) and so I'm going to be writing a LOT more. . If you want to check out the stories I'll be updating first (maybe) check out the pen name HeraldSkif on fanfiction, and on fictionpress, ShadowofAngels. Thankies. .

Disclaimer: I do not own Good Charlotte, Finch, "What It Is To Burn," or "Emotionless." I don't own D.N.Angel or anything affiliated with that, either, except this plot line and my character's personalities. . I changed 'em, ya know. .


	4. IV

Z/N  
I've been getting a lot of comments about how the character's personalities seem so different. With respect, it is SUPPOSED to be that way in this fic. I have never seen the series (though I REALLY want to, and it's not fair) and only have the first two manga, and as such I cannot be expected to know each individual's personality inside and out. I've mentioned—several times—that the characters in this story have had their personalities altered to suit the fan fiction. There is nothing wrong with this.  
  
Sigh Okay, if everybody hates this story so much, I'll take it off, okay? I've said before that I never saw the anime and I prolly never will, and I only have the first two manga sets, and that's not really enough to base a personality on. If people would _let_ me get on with the story without flaming my characters' personalities, it'll get better for Daisuke and Satoshi and the whole world will be better! Now, I've written the _complete_ plot for this story and the _complete _plot for its sequel (yes, I'm making a sequel for once, go me.) and I think they're both great story lines and people would prolly like them if they wouldn't get stuck on the fact that my characters are prolly not even remotely like the ones they knew. This story is like the Harry Potter movies (no offense meant if you like them; I do too): Great as movies, but not very good at all as based on the books. So think of my story as a whole new thing and _not_ based on the animes or mangas.  
  
Now, if you _don't _like it, it's okay to tell me so, but _PLEASE_ do it politely, and not "I don't like this because Daisuke isn't like he was in the anime" and such. But I respect my reviewers enough to keep them up on the review pages (besides the fact that the flames are sent through signed accounts, so I _can't_ delete them... -.- why me?). I'm just letting you know that if everybody hates this story so much, I'm taking it off! That's all there is to it.  
  
Thank you, and on with chapter four!  
  
v v v v v v v v v v v v v  
  
"Satoshi? Satoshi, Daisuke, wake up. Come on, you two, get up."  
  
Satoshi sighed and stirred, stretching in his seat. "Mmm... What?" Very slowly he opened his eyes. "I wasn't sleeping, I was examining the insides of my eyelids." He stifled a yawn. "Are we there?"  
  
Risa was sitting on her knees in the seat in front of his, facing them. She smiled and tilted her head to the side. "No, silly, you slept right through the intercom announcement. Looks like Daisuke did, too." She nodded to the redhead, whose head was still resting on the detective's shoulder. "Anyway," she continued, "we're not there yet."  
  
"Are we at a rest stop? Is that why the bus is stopped?" Satoshi cautiously wiped the fog from the inside of his window, trying not to jar Daisuke awake, and peered outside. It was dark, darker than it should have been. And wait... Why would there be a fog building up on the inside? It hadn't been all that cold when they'd left school...  
  
She shook her head. "No. We're in the middle of the Douseiai Mountains, somewhere near the peak of Mount Hatsukoi. The bus broke down, and nobody can figure out how to fix it. We've been stuck here awhile, and Professor's going to say something outside. Everybody's been ordered to get their stuff and their selves off the bus. We need to wake him up," she added, nodding at Daisuke again. "Anyway, you can do that; I'm sure Riku is looking for me. I didn't tell her I was going to come and get you," she explained, "so she's probably worried sick."  
  
Discretion being the better part of valor, Satoshi refrained from telling Risa that her twin probably didn't give a Fig Neuton where she was or why. As the brunette skipped her way off the bus, he gently shook his companion awake. "Come on, Daisuke," he said softly, "time to get up. Off the bus. Let's go."  
  
A small groan escaped Daisuke's lips and he yawned, shook his head, and snuggled into Satoshi's shoulder. "Not yet. Good dream. Five more minutes."  
  
Satoshi smiled but shook him again. "Sorry, but we have to go. The bus broke down in the middle of the mountains—can't you feel how cold it's getting?"  
  
"Not cold, warm pillow," Daisuke mumbled and yawned again. "All right, I'm up." He pushed off of Satoshi and rubbed his eyes. "'S too early to be getting up, anyway. What do you want?"  
  
The detective smiled. "Come on, they're making some kind of announcement outside where everybody is, and they're probably not going to wait for us."  
  
Daisuke stretched, a faint groan escaping his lips. "Hm-mmm.... All right, let's go." He slipped out of his seat and tried to reach their bags from the carry-on compartment over their heads, but the bags had been shoved all the way in the back. Even jumping he couldn't reach them.  
  
"Here, let me." Satoshi gently pushed him to the side and stood up on the edge of the seats. With this added foot or so, he could easily reach the back of the compartment. As he handed down his bag after Daisuke's, he heard the _clink_ of glass on glass.  
  
The redhead looked up as he took the duffel bag. "What's in here, Satoshi?"  
  
"I don't remember, I haven't unpacked it since my trip to my aunt's home two days ago. I just picked it up this morning and put in my wallet, book, and stuff," he shrugged.  
  
"Which means...?"  
  
"Anything could be in there. Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure the glass chinking together was the candles my mother wanted me to give to my aunt. Guess I forgot." He hopped down off the bench.  
  
"Candles?" Daisuke asked curiously as he handed the duffel back to its owner.  
  
"My mother makes them. Come on, keep walking."  
  
"Right." The younger boy trudged off the bus.  
  
The school bus had been parked in a clearing surrounded by dark, snowy woods off the side of the road, could it even be called that; there was hardly anything on the ground to distinguish it as such. There were snowdrifts here and there while a thin skein of ice covering the rest of the frostbitten ground. The students, the chaperone, and Professor were standing in a mobbish-looking crowd over to one corner of the clearing, talking loudly and excitedly. The two boys hiked over to them  
  
Riku, Risa, and their partners, standing on the edge of the mob, eagerly pulled the twain into their midst. Riku popped Daisuke on the back of the head. "Who told you you could fall asleep?" she demanded.  
  
"Ow! Riku—!" He ducked another blow. "I was tired, and..." Daisuke covered his head and staggered over behind Satoshi. "Help me!"  
  
"What's going on?" Satoshi asked, ignoring the pair.  
  
Risa looked up at him. "Well..." Her eyes rolled upward, as if she were reciting something. "The bus got lost, then broke down. Professor says we're all going to walk to a service station a mile or so back he swears he saw but nobody else remembers seeing to phone somebody to fix the bus. He wants us all to go to conserve body heat because it's really cold out here." She demonstrated by stomping on the snowy ice. It didn't even crack.  
  
"Daisuke Niwa, you bloody coward, get back here!" Riku shouted and stamped her foot impatiently. The brunette crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her toes against the icy ground. "I'm going to count to three. One..."  
  
Satoshi pulled his duffel bag around and unzipped it. "Are you cold, Risa? I think I have a sweater or jacket in here somewhere..." He shuffled through the snacks he'd packed in the bag to get off the bus floor and the candles and other emergency equipment his pessimistic nature required he pack until he dug out the garment.  
  
"Thank you, Satoshi," she said, blushing softly, as he wrapped the jacket around her shoulders.

"Two..."  
  
"No problem." He smiled back at her, then stumbled a bit as Daisuke ran into him, still dodging Riku.  
  
"Daisuke..."  
  
The redhead stopped playing around and looked up. "Yes, Risa?"  
  
Biting her lip, she looked around a bit self-consciously. "Can I... you know... talk to you? In private?"  
  
"Sure." He slipped his hands into his pockets and walked with her. When he would've stopped in front of the bus just out of earshot of the rest of the crowd, she grabbed a fistful of his shirt and dragged him behind the bus. "What is it, Risa?" he asked when she finally released him.  
  
"I... uh..." She looked uncomfortable and glanced at her toes, fascinated with her shoes. "Here." She dug into her pocket and took out a folded piece of paper. "Please take this."  
  
"I... Risa..." Daisuke looked at the paper, then, gently as he could, pushed it back towards her. "Risa, can't be your boyfriend. I'm sorry."  
  
She looked up, tears in her eyes. "Why not?" Furiously she wiped at them. "I know, it's Riku, isn't it?" Her voice sounded angry. "She's smarter and prettier than I am! I know how you boys think, just because her chest is five millimeters bigger than mine—"  
  
"Risa—"  
  
"—doesn't mean she's any—"  
  
"Risa—"  
  
"—better than I am! I'm a nice girl too—"  
  
_"Risa!"_ He grabbed her shoulders and very gently shook her. "Risa, it's not any of that, really... I just wouldn't make any girl a good boyfriend—"  
  
She yanked away from him. "That's not it at all! I was right, wasn't I?" She dashed away the tears that had started falling. "Fine, I don't need you!" She turned on her heel and ran into the woods.  
  
"Risa!" Daisuke bit his lip, uncertain what to do. Should he go after her, or would that only make things worse? "Risa, come back!"  
  
Satoshi and Riku came around the side of the bus after him. "What happened, Daisuke? Where'd Risa go?"  
  
"She went that way," he answered, waving towards the woods.  
  
"What did you say to her?" Riku snapped.  
  
"I—nothing—I think..."  
  
Satoshi was already halfway to the timberline, bag still around his neck. Riku gave Daisuke a nasty look, then ran off after Satoshi.  
  
Daisuke sighed. _Damn. This day just keeps getting better all the time._ He knew what he should do, what he had to do, but doing it was a different story in and of itself. "Fine," he muttered and jogged off towards the trees. "I guess it's my fault anyway... somehow..."  
  
Four feet inside the forest he couldn't see the clearing or the road anymore. Daisuke turned in a slow circle, immediately disoriented. "Risa?" A twig snapped behind him, and he whirled around. "Riku?"  
  
An eerie, white-blue fog began to drift up around his feet. "Risa? Riku? Satoshi!" His feet started moving, pushing him onward into the forest, deeper and deeper. The fog became thicker and colder. "Riiiiisssssaaaaaaaaaa..... Riiiiikuuuuuuuuuu....."  
  
Daisuke stumbled over a raised tree-root and grabbed onto a branch to steady himself. But the limb snapped, sending him hurtling towards the mist- covered ground. He struck his forehead on an ill-fated stone. Dizzy, he rolled on his side and glanced up through the swirling fog and watched the edges of his vision go black.  
  
v v v v v v v v v v v v v  
  
"There, there, there," Riku murmured as she led her sister back towards the group. "I'm sure he didn't mean to hurt your feelings. He's just a boy, after all." She wrapped her arm around her sister's shoulders and hugged her gently.  
  
"B-but, Riku, I l-l-like him," Risa sniffled.  
  
"I know. He'll come around."  
  
"Promise?"  
  
"Of course. With a face like yours, how could he not?"  
  
"You two look alike," Satoshi chimed in from where he was walking behind them. "And you have a whole harem of boyfriends, Riku."  
  
Risa promptly burst into tears again. Riku turned and gave Satoshi an evil death-glare. "Pipe down, detective," she sniped. She snatched the jacket from around Risa's shoulders and shoved it into his chest. "We don't need your charity or your coat. Just leave us alone." That said, she turned back to her twin sister. "Shh, Risa, he didn't mean it. Come on, little sister, it's all right."  
  
Satoshi ducked his head and branched away from the wailing woman to stand with a group of boys. "Have you seen Daisuke?" he asked Takeshi.  
  
"Niwa? No, not since we got off the bus. Man, where've you been? The class is fixing to leave."  
  
With that, the gang of guys moved on. Satoshi sighed, bit his lip, and sighed again. To go after Daisuke or not to go after Daisuke, that was the question. _He's helpless, and I've got my phone._ Hands shoved in his pockets, he made his way back to the woods.  
  
v v v v v v v v v v v v v  
  
The fog was slow to clear from Daisuke's mind. He blinked, shook his head, and blinked again. His forehead stung, and his head hurt terribly. Slowly he sat up and touched his fingertips to his face. They came back with blood. _Damn_. Very slowly he stood, then stumbled toward a nearby tree as dizziness ate at his consciousness and the blackness edged closer towards the center of his vision. _I need to find the rest of the class_, he thought and set off. He didn't know if he was going the right way or not, but what other choice did he have. I_ don't even know if they know if I'm there or gone.  
_  
Satoshi stumbled into a smaller clearing and wiped the cold mist from his glasses for the third time in five minutes. He should probably just take them off... Then he saw Daisuke's red hair, going away from him.  
  
"Daisuke? Daisuke, wait up." Satoshi jogged towards him.  
  
Then the mists parted and Satoshi's heart jumped into his throat. Daisuke was standing on the edge of a cliff, holding his head. Bright red blood oozed from a jagged cut in the middle of his forehead. The redhead glanced up at Satoshi and swayed slightly. The cliff wasn't very high, Satoshi saw on second glance, but high enough and very steep. He swallowed hard and stepped closer to the other boy.  
  
"Daisuke? Can you hear me? Daisuke, listen very carefully to me. Come over here, okay? Everyone's worried sick about you." A little white lie, all for the better, he thought. "Come on, let's get back to the bus." He held his hand out towards the boy.  
  
For a moment, Daisuke seemed confused, then his face cleared. He started to take a step towards Satoshi.  
  
But then the cliff crumbled out from beneath his feet, sending him sliding down its bank. His foot hit a root and hooked into it, hurling him to the side and evermore downward. A sickening _crack_ rent the air, and his foot came out of the crook of the root. The boy tumbled head over heels the rest of the way down and was lost in the chilling embrace of the mist.


	5. V

Z/N

Cold, cold, cold… Waves hand in front of face. Hey, dummy, that ice cream is cold. Okay, enough yelling at myself and onto the more serious stuff. Thankies everybody who gave me a nice review… for the nice review… At least someone likes my writing, even if it is different. So, on to chapter five!

v v v v v v v v v v v v v

Daisuke drifted in and out on the tides of consciousness. He remembered falling, he knew that for certain. His mind vividly recalled the feeling of having the pit of his stomach fall to his shoes. He remembered feeling the sharp pain as his ankle snapped in the crook of the root, and he remembered striking his head once more on the ground, this time as his tumble came to an abrupt end. That was where he was sure his memory faded and fantasy took over.

Vaguely he recalled the sensation of being lifted. _So I'm dead, _he thought dimly. _Why does dying hurt so damn much? _And then he was jounced slightly, for a long time. His pain increased excruciatingly, but he couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from, exactly. _But if I'm really dead, _he reasoned faintly, _the pain should go away soon. My only regret is…_

And his consciousness faded completely.

v v v v v v v v v v v v v

Satoshi panted slightly as he shifted the unconscious redhead in his arms. Daisuke was still breathing—barely, but barely was better than not at all. His face was deathly pale aside from the jagged cut on his forehead, which still dribbled blood, his shallow breath leaving slight puffs of steam in the air. Even in deadweight, Daisuke's body hardly weighed over one hundred ten pounds; Satoshi carried him with little to no trouble at all.

_I need to catch up with the rest of the group, _Satoshi thought as he held the boy closer to him. _But which way is out of here? _He'd already been wandering for close to twenty minutes, and he wasn't sure he was even going the right way. As he stumbled slightly over a stone half-hidden in the dead shrubbery and snow, he heard Daisuke moan softly in pain. _Damn! He's fading fast. I have to get him somewhere…_

As if in answer to his silent thought, the mists swirled away somewhat, revealing the mouth to a cave. The ceiling of the entranceway was low, requiring him to bend at the waist to crawl inside. He wasn't sure how he managed, but somehow he got both himself and Daisuke inside.

About fifteen feet into the cave, the tunnel widened suddenly in a dome shape. The ceiling arched high over their heads to about six feet, only a few inches taller than Satoshi when he stood. It was dark in this part of the gave, but the back was lit by an eerie greenish-blue light—a sulfur reaction, he realized when he saw the water lapping up against the very back of the cave. It was not too cold in the cavern, either, which meant the water was probably a natural hot springs, or a branch of one. That was a good thing.

In about the middle of the grotto, Satoshi slowly went to his knees and laid Daisuke out on the stone floor in front of him, then pulled his bag over into his lap. There wasn't much he had that he could use. He always carried a first aid kit, but it was small, containing bandages, antiseptic, a pair of thin rubber medical gloves, cotton swabs, and a wrist and ankle braces. There were a handful of chemical hand and feet warmers and ice packs, and his typical miniature drugstore of over the counter medications, but that was it in the way of medical supplies. In his homemade kit for emergencies he packed a blanket, wrapped up in which was a poncho liner—great for rain and snow and also warm as hell when wrapped around a person or two—, a book of matches, a lighter, a calling card that had never been used, a sweater and sweatpants, and a water bottle. Besides his emergency equipment, he had in the bag his two traveling blankets and pillows, a change of clothes and jacket, two bottles of water, an empty soda bottle, the rest of their snacks from earlier, his detective novel, a spiral notebook and pen, and a dozen twelve-ounce flower-scented candles in decorative jars.

_All right, Satoshi, think. _He bit his lip and wondered what his uncle, who was a doctor, would do. _I don't think he's in shock, so that's out of the way. What first? Get him out of those wet clothes _came immediately to mind. Whenever anybody was hurt, wasn't the first thing they always did in the movies was get the patient out of their wet clothes, whether they had wet clothing or not? "Okay," he muttered and went digging through his bag. Sweater and sweatpants or tshirt and jeans? The sweater outfit would probably be better, it was warmer… And Daisuke would have to do just fine in his own underwear.

Satoshi put the bag off to the side and the dry clothes to his right, then very gently pulled Daisuke into his lap. The redhead's body was limp and heavy, unyielding. _Dammit, Daisuke, why'd you have to choose _now _to pass out? _he thought as he struggled to get the snow-drenched shirt from his chest. It took a while, but he managed to pull off the wet clothes and get him into the dry outfit. By the time he was finished, Satoshi's face was a brilliant red: he'd never had to undress and redress another person, let alone another boy. He stood and draped the wet clothes a short distance from the hot springs to dry, then knelt back down between Daisuke and his duffel bag, his lifeline.

_All right, what's next? _He sat back on his heels and stared blankly at Daisuke's face while he tried to think. _Get him off the floor and wrapped up, and then see to his medical problems. Shit, I hope he's not allergic to any kind of medication._ Satoshi unfolded his two travel blankets, thick cottony fleece, the both of them, until he had them doubled over once apiece, then carefully scooped Daisuke up into his arms and stretched him out on the blankets. He put the pillows beneath the younger boy's head and pulled both the blanket and the poncho liner from the emergency kit over him and tucked them in.

_Medicals. Hm. Well, he's got that cut on his forehead. Clean it out with antiseptic and bandage it up—I don't think it needs stitches… I _hope _it doesn't need stitches. _Sitting on his knees beside his friend's head, he reached over and pulled the first aid kit out of his bag. A few moments of digging around produced two kinds of antiseptic, a few cotton swabs, and a bandage. _Now, which antiseptic to use? _One was a gel, and the other was a liquid. _Well, this one says "great for cuts and scrapes," _he thought, looking at the tube of gel. _So I guess this is it. _He leaned over and carefully inspected Daisuke's forehead to make sure there wasn't anything lodged in the cut, then sat back and squeezed the gel out onto a swab.

"This might hurt," he warned the younger boy, but he was pretty sure Daisuke couldn't hear him. As delicately as he could, the detective spread the antiseptic into the cut, and then bandaged him up.

_Okay, that's done. What's next under medical? _Satoshi consulted the mental medical checklist that was somehow stored in his mind—dimly he remembered reading something about this on the internet. _Check for broken bones. Just how the _hell _do I do that, poke him until he cries out? _His nerves were fast becoming non-existent. In the movies, he reasoned, the doctor or whoever was in charge would run their hands down the patient's body and feel for broken bones. Feel _for them. Great. Just what does a broken or fractured bone _feel _like? _

Panic was eating away at his mind. _If we survive this, I'm going to be arrested for malpractice. I'm not a doctor—I'm not even in med school—I'm a _high school kid. _I can't do this… I can't… _

_Dammit, Satoshi, pull yourself together. Look at what you've done already. There'll be time for self-doubt later, _his mind snapped coldly. _You have to take care of Daisuke, or he very well _may _die. _

Hesitantly at first, then with growing sureness, Satoshi ran his hands down Daisuke's arms, one at a time, and then down his chest and ribs with a gentle pressure. Everything felt intact, if a little battered. He worked his way down to the boy's legs and feet. Just as he was about to pronounce Daisuke whole and… well… _almost _healthy, his fingers wrapped around the boy's hitherto unnoticed swollen left ankle. Daisuke's body jerked away from him, a small scream escaping his throat.

Satoshi sighed and sat back on his heels. _I think its safe to say he either twisted or broke it. _Shit. _Everything was going _so _swell, _now _what do I do? _The only thing he could do, given his limited supplies, was put the offending limb in a brace and give the patient something to take away the pain. So as gently as he could, Satoshi pulled the ankle brace over the swollen joint, laced it up tight but not too tight, and tucked the blankets back around the boy. He crawled back up the length of Daisuke's body and held the boy's chest and head up in his lap for a moment while he searched through his miniature pharmacy for some painkiller and a bottle of water. The only things he had were Bayer Aspirin and Tylenol Maximum Strength. Unsure whether Daisuke was allergic or taking something that would react badly with the Aspirin, Satoshi opted for the Tylenol. He opened the bottle and had it standing by, then shook three pills into his hand. He placed these in Daisuke's mouth, poured a bit of water over them, and tilted the younger boy's head back until the whole mess slid down into his throat. Lightly he stroked the redhead's throat to stimulate the muscles to swallow, then laid Daisuke back down and tucked him in to sleep.

Now _what do I do? _

v v v v v v v v v v v v v

Z/N

I am not a doctor, nor do I claim to be one… I have no clue if I did any of this right, please don't yell at me if I didn't… I wrote most of this chapter at two in the morning… Hope it seems realistic… ish… Laughs. Well, that's chapter five, now I gotta decide what to do for six. Tootles!


	6. VI

--ZN--  
So much for not updating, huh? What can I say, Daisuke and Satoshi have been haunting me, insisting I continue with their story. . And it's actually really easy for them to do, seeing as they're both in my harem... Yah. Inside joke between my twin and I. Also, in case you didn't know, "blunette" is like "brunette," except a "blunette" has blue hair, not brown. (Yay, Satoshi!) Anyway, here's chapter next one.  
Just so you know, "nani" means "what" in Japanese... I thought it sounded cuter...

  
  
It was slowly growing colder in the cave, even though the hot spring that served as the back barrier of the cavern kept the area at a warm temperature. Satoshi glanced at his wristwatch/compass. While it didn't do him much good to know he was facing north-west from where he was sitting, he realized why it was getting so cold. It was nearing nighttime, and he wasn't sure how much colder it would get. If it became too chilled in the cavern, he didn't know how he was going to keep Daisuke warm enough.  
  
He sighed and rubbed between his eyes. _Why didn't I pay more attention to those medical soaps, like_ ER? _I don't know what to do..._  
His sigh echoed eerily in the cave. As it bounced away, the silence came back to deafen him. The only noises, it seemed, were those of his calm breathing, Daisuke's labored breaths, and the gentle lapping of the sulfurous water against the stone bank. Satoshi leaned back against the cavern wall and closed his eyes, tilting his head back until it touched the cold rock.  
  
It was becoming dark in their sanctuary, and he didn't want to end up tripping over Daisuke sometime. With his foot he hooked the strap of the bag and pulled it towards him. _Sorry, Aunt Middie,_ he thought grimly as he clicked the lighter to life. _Your birthday presents are going to be re- purposed._ He lit one candle and set it down about an arm's-length from Daisuke, then placed a second opposite the sleeping boy. It wouldn't be much for heat, but once more Satoshi was surprised by just how much light a single tiny flame could create.  
  
When he put the rest of the candles back in the bag, Satoshi's hand brushed by an odd, rectangular shaped item. Confused, he closed his fingers around it and pulled it out. Eyes wide, he couldn't believe how he'd missed it earlier. His cell phone! They'd be out of here yet.  
  
"Stay put, Daisuke," he said gently, stroking the redhead's forehead once or twice. "I can't get a signal in here; I'm going to go try outside. Kay?"  
  
The other boy didn't answer, just slept on. Satoshi nodded and crept out of the cave.  
  
Outside the cold air hit him like a pail of ice water. He was stripped down to just a tshirt and pants, having wrapped Daisuke up in his sweater and jacket, and he felt every icy dagger the wind was blowing his way. Leaning against the wall, he used the rock face as a windbreak and glanced at the phone again. No bars. Damn. Eyes locked on the phone, he wandered around a few paces into the wind, trying to get a signal. None came in.  
  
Then something cold, tiny, white, and wet touched his face. Satoshi held his fingers up and lightly touched his cheek. A drop of moisture came back off on them. He looked up just in time to catch another flake, this one in his eyelashes. Blinking only ended up in the drop of ice water fluttering into his eye. He blinked some more, dropping his head._ Damn, damn_, damn. They couldn't stay in the mountains very long, or they'd be snowed in but good.  
  
But what choice did he have, really? _None_. Daisuke wasn't even conscious, much less able to travel. It wasn't safe, even with Satoshi carrying him. He'd come down with hypothermia in moments in his condition.  
  
Satoshi looked closely at the phone again. Shouldn't he be getting even one bar of a signal? It didn't make sense. He tried to do a search for the nearest tower—maybe he could configure the phone to work using it. But pushing the buttons on the phone didn't do anything. The menu didn't even come up. _What the hell...?_ He tried once more, then his china blue eyes widened with shock. The battery was dead!  
  
_It can't be dead_, he thought, nearly panicking. I_ charged the damn thing all last night. Is the actual _battery _dead?_ He groaned aloud. He wasn't even supposed to buy a new battery for another month yet, why would this one go bad? _Oh well, the fact of the matter is it_ did _die, and I have to improvise. Somehow.  
_  
The snow was building around him, burying him up to the middle of his calves in moments. He sighed and headed back into the cave.

  
  
Daisuke showed no signs of movement when he came back in. The blunette knelt down beside him and stroked ruby bangs from his forehead._ He'll wake up in a bit._ Satoshi leaned across the unconscious boy and picked up his bag. _There's not much more I can do.  
_  
He pulled his detective novel from the bag, but couldn't get into it. After twenty minutes of staring at words and turning pages, he sighed and dropped the book in his lap, then slowly rotated his shoulders to ease the tension in them. His gaze traveled longingly towards the hot spring, then wandered back to Daisuke.  
  
"He ought to be all right, I'll just be over there," Satoshi mused aloud quietly. His shoulders and back ached horribly. That matter settled, he stood and stripped to his boxers, then went to the back of the cave and the eerie greenish-blue water. The water steamed and fairly oozed with a sulfurous scent, but now Satoshi found that smell oddly comforting. He stepped into the mere.  
  
The water was hot, probably over one hundred Fahrenheit. Muscles in his calves that he hadn't known were tensed began to relax as he stepped in further. A sigh of contentment escaped his lips as he continued into the water until it swirled in frothy waves around his waist, then sat down. The smell of sulfur was strong, but he'd survive.  
  
Satoshi leaned back until he floated on the surface of the water. He felt his muscles loosening and relaxing as he just drifted. Not even thoughts penetrated the thick block he put on his mind; if he got to thinking, then he'd get tensed up and he'd feel sick because there was nothing he could do. His eyes eased closed.  
  
He didn't know how long he slept on the surface of that lake, but when he woke up again, his toes were numb. Stiffly he sat up and shook his head to clear the water from his ears. He glanced around the cavern and immediately identified what had awoken him.  
  
One of the candles he'd placed by Daisuke had burned down a couple of inches, then been knocked over, judging by the amount of still-liquidy wax pooled on the icy stone floor. The redhead was sitting up with his left foot pulled into his lap, arms wrapped around his leg. He was rocking back and forth and whimpering.  
  
The detective pulled himself from the pool and draped his shirt over his shoulders, then went over to the other boy. He knelt down on the pallet and gently pushed the redhead back on his back. "Relax, Daisuke, calm down. You're injured."  
  
"I noticed." Daisuke's breath was coming in harsh gasps between clenched teeth. "I believe standing up is a bad choice."  
  
"Yes." Satoshi went about resettling the quilting on his friend, then checked his watch. Barely four hours had passed since they'd come into this cave. It should be all right to give him another dose of medication... He pulled out the plastic bottle and a water bottle from his bag.  
  
"Where are we?" Daisuke asked as he watched Satoshi shake out two white pills.  
  
Satoshi glanced up. "We're in a cave in the mountains. It's started snowing outside, but you can't go anywhere just yet, so we'll just have to sit tight." He smiled briefly. "How do you feel?"  
  
"Fine, other than I wish my ankle could be cut off at the knee." He smiled a bit, then closed his eyes. Satoshi noticed how pale his face had gotten again.  
  
He gently eased the redhead up until he was leaning back on Satoshi's chest. "Here," he said a bit gruffly and dropped the pills into one of Daisuke's hands and the water into the other. "Take this, it'll help. Don't worry about trying to sit up, I've got you." As he rested his arms around the smaller boy's waist, he felt the fine tremors wracking the redhead's body.  
  
The younger boy did as he was told, then collapsed back on him, still shivering. "I'm so cold, Hiwatari-kun," Daisuke whispered. "It's cold..."  
  
Involuntarily Satoshi's arms tightened around him. "It's only going to get colder tonight, Daisuke," he answered apologetically. "I can't turn the heater up, we're in the middle of nowhere..."  
  
"I know, I shouldn't be complaining," he whispered. His teeth started to chatter and he moved closer to Satoshi's warmth. "But you asked."  
  
"Lie back down, Daisuke," Satoshi said softly, easing out from under him. He quickly slipped into the now-dry clothing he'd discarded from Daisuke earlier, then his own, and blew out the candle. Using his fingertips, the detective felt around until he located the pallet Daisuke was lying on.  
  
"Daisuke?"  
  
"Nani?"  
  
"It's only going to get colder tonight."  
  
"You've told me."  
  
"And if it gets too cold, we'll both freeze to death."  
  
A slight pause from beside him, then, "Now I feel _lots_ better. That's nice to know."  
  
For a moment, the blunette had an insane urge to laugh, but he squelched it down. "There's only one way I can think of to prevent that. Now, we're both reasonable adults, not children, and I'm sure we can behave accordingly—"  
  
"Hiwatari-kun, what _are_ you talking about?" Daisuke interrupted.  
  
He sighed. "Let me put this as bluntly as I can," Satoshi replied. "In order to have _any_ chance of survival _what so ever_, unless we can grow gills that can breathe sulfurous water in an hour or so so we can sleep under that lake, we're going to have to sleep together."  
  
Another pause, this one longer. "Na...ni?"  
  
_Gods, he's dense,_ Satoshi thought. "I mean we're going to have to sleep very close, under the same blankets, to share body heat. If nothing else, you're going to need the extra heat so your body has more energy to devote to healing your ankle instead of warming you up."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"I just thought you might appreciate it to know what was going on, what the circumstances were."  
  
"I do... thanks, I think..."  
  
This time Satoshi did laugh, and as he did, he slid under the covers. He could still feel Daisuke trembling with the cold and hear his teeth chattering quietly, try as the redhead might to quiet them both. The twain fell silent for a while. Satoshi stared at the ceiling as he listened to Daisuke breathe beside him. After about twenty minutes, it was clear that this wasn't going to work, and he told Daisuke as much.  
  
"Well what do you want me to do?" Daisuke bit out. After a quiet pause, he sighed, "I'm sorry, you didn't deserve that."  
  
"It's quite all right, I can only imagine how you're feeling at this time." Satoshi leaned up on one elbow to study the lines of his friend's face in the almost non-existent light. "I can think of one thing that may help."  
  
"If it's stripping naked, huh, you've got another thing coming—"  
  
Satoshi laughed so hard he nearly fell over. "Niwa-kun! What a mind you've got inside that pretty head!" He chuckled and tried to regain his composure. "No, it's not that. It'd probably be easier just to show you."  
  
Quietly and slowly so as not to startle the other boy, Satoshi scooted closer to him, still on his side. He laid his head on the pillow above Daisuke's shoulder and lightly draped his arm around the redhead's waist, then gently pulled their bodies into alignment. His ankle moved to lightly drape across the younger boy's, and he was very careful not to put any weight on Daisuke's left leg.  
  
Daisuke froze, then whispered, "S-Satoshi?"  
  
"Shh," the detective breathed into his ear. "You'll warm up." Unconsciously he hugged the other boy closer to his body. "Just go to sleep. You're safe with me, I promise you. I won't let anything happen."  
  
Daisuke turned his head to look at the detective, but he'd misjudged the distance between them. In result, his lips brushed over Satoshi's lightly, the whisper of a feeling, but he felt it. And by the subtle tightening of his arm, so had Satoshi. A red wave fought its way up their faces, not that either could tell in the darkness.  
  
"Go to sleep," Satoshi whispered again, thickly.  
  
The other boy didn't answer, but in moments, Satoshi sighed with relief and—disappointment?—as he felt the body beneath his arm loosen and relax, felt the redhead's chest rising and falling in the deep, steady rhythm of slumber. His last thought before he drifted off himself?  
  
_ What have I gotten myself into_ this _time?_


	7. VII

—ZN—

Two updates, in two days? How _do _I do it? laughs happily cough, cough Erm, yeah. Anyway!

Had to, honestly had to… a note to Averon, my dearest twin sister… I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU SAID THAT!!! looks around the cave for something to throw picks up Satoshi's book

(Satoshi) HEY, that's MINE! snatches it back and glares

pouts You're no fun. throws pictures of fluffy, cuddly-looking rabid bunnies at twin half-heartedly Daisuke's mine! … or rather, Wufei's… ish deathly afraid of having the Shenlong Gundam stomp on her as she sleeps heh…

To Heather Christi, I accept your challenge!! laughs maniacally Bring in the rubber duckie brigade!

To Heather Christi again (sorry, different review I'm responding to) pertaining the blunette/blunet thing. Actually, I didn't know brunet was a word (had to look it up), but the dictionary I looked it up in said brunette and brunet were synonymous, and since I'd seen brunette used to describe both males and females, I figured blunet and blunette were the same way… besides, I'm used to typing "nette" and it confuses me to have to change things…

Now that I've had my moments—

(Duo) Get on with it.

glares —on with chapter seven.

_Tmp tmp tmp tmp tmp tmp. Man, that scary old house can't be far, even in the dark. I know it was around here… Tmp tmp tmp tmp. _

_I kept a sharp lookout as I ran. Even in the dark my vision was well, better than other children my age's. I'd been running for about twenty minutes now and I wasn't even winded—part of the training my mother and grandfather had been putting me through. They don't tell me why when I ask them, but I do as they ask anyway. Mum says tomorrow I get to try and crack the safe at the bank—if I can, I get ice cream._

_I can't wait._

_ The tall iron gates loomed ahead, and I skidded to a stop. Boy, they were tall, taller than I remembered. And scarier. The lamp on the street corner was dim; I'd have to get my daddy to fix it next time he came home. I stood on the bottom lining of the gate and tried to reach the latch. A few more inches… I stood on my tiptoes, but it didn't help. If only I was older._

_ Only one way left. I hopped down off the fence and turned and ran across the street. That girl was back again, I could hear her breathing, see her watching me from around the corner. That was okay, she could wait; I'd be right back. _

_Pattapattapattapattapatta, fwoom! I jumped and cleared the gate, barely. Wee, this is fun! I'm flying, I'm flying! . . . I'm falling, I'm falling! _

_ I put my feet down underneath me and landed running. Up the walk and to the door, and the girl at the gate was swallowed up by the darkness. That was okay, I needed to concentrate on getting in and out. _

_ The door was unlocked, how easy was that? I stood on my tiptoes and tugged at the door handle until it came open, then ran inside. The floor beneath me was hardwood, and my footsteps echoed eerily. It took a moment, but I remembered my manners and slid off my shoes before continuing._

_ Fwumpfwumpfwump. Without my shoes, my steps were a lot duller in sound. I ran through the doorway before me and ended up in a humongous entryway. There was a huge stairs in front of me, with a red line going up the middle—carpeting. That would be a nice way to go up. On both sides of the stairs there were closets, really big ones. I couldn't reach the handles on them, so it looked like the only place I had to go was up. So I did._

_ Thumpthumpthumpthump. Up and up I went, and—there it was! Sitting pretty as you please on the table at the top of the stairs was the girl's bear. Earlier I'd knocked it out of her arms when I missed the ball my friend threw to me, and the ball bounced and the bear went flying over the fence. I was too scared to get the bear earlier—a scary man had come out of the house and got it—but now I wasn't afraid. Now it was dark and the man couldn't see me, and I had my lucky rubber duckie mommy gave me once. It was small and fit in my pocket._

_ I stood on my tiptoes and jumped and managed to knock the bear off the table. It was brown and fuzzy, fluffy and soft, with a green ribbon tied around its neck. I slid down the banister on the stairs and clutched it to my chest. So soft and silky… maybe I wouldn't have to give it back to her right away… I stroked the top of the bear's head and snuggled my cheek against it. It was so warm and cuddly… _

_ The banister ended and I landed on my bottom with a hard _thunk _on the floor at the bottom. Then there was a loud _crack_—_

Daisuke jerked awake at the sound. He lay there, panting in the darkness. _That dream again… From before they gave me up… But why? What's it all about? _More to soothe himself, he kept stroking the silky teddy bear beside him. _Wait, a teddy bear? I don't _own _a bear, that was that girl's…_He glanced to the side.

The blunette detective was curled up beside him, head resting on the redhead's chest. Daisuke had had his fingers tangled in Satoshi's hair, mistaking its silky texture for that of the teddy he'd rescued from the Haunted House back when he was a child. For a moment he paused his hand's journey in combing out Satoshi's locks—or tangling them worse, he was doing both—and stared blankly at the blunette's face. _What's going on with me?_

Another loud _crash _rent the air and Satoshi's body jumped, tightened around his, and the detective whimpered. It was then Daisuke noticed the glittering the darkness and realized Satoshi hadn't been asleep.

"Don't stop," the detective whispered hoarsely.

"Hiwatari-kun? What is it?" Daisuke started to sit up, thought the better of it, and wrapped his arms around Satoshi lightly. The blunette was shaking like a leaf in the wind.

A harsh laugh sounded from the older boy's throat. "I guess now would not be the best time to state I have a totally irrational phobia of blizzards, would it?" He seemed to be talking more to himself than to Daisuke, but the redhead listened quietly. "Rainstorms I can handle, thunderstorms are better. Snow is lovely, sleet is okay, hail's pushing it, but stick me in a blizzard, and…" He shuddered. "It's stupid, really…"

Daisuke didn't say anything but resumed the stroking motion of his hand through Satoshi's hair and down his back lightly. A sudden thought struck him and he ducked his head close to the other boy's. "_Satoshi_," he breathed into his ear.

The detective shivered in his arms. "Nani?" he whispered back.

A tired grin spread across Daisuke's face as he sang softly, "_Rubber Duckie, you're the one…you make bath time lots of fun…Rubber Duckie, I'm awfully fond of you."_

Satoshi stopped shivering and lay there in his arms, blinking. Slowly, "Niwa-kun…? Rubber _duckie?_" he choked out.

Now Daisuke was giggling, but he managed to sing around it. "_Rubber Duckie, joy of joys. When I squeeze you, you make noise. _Do you make noise, Hiwatari-kun?" He squeezed the boy in his arms experimentally and was pleased to no end when he got in return a smothered laugh. "That's better! _Rubber Duckie, you're my very best friend, it's true!"_

"What are you talking about, Niwa-kun?" Slowly Satoshi was forgetting about the raging storm outside and began to enjoy himself.

Daisuke started swinging his hands to the music only he could hear and continued, _"Every day when I make my way to the tubby, I find a little fella who's cute and yellow and chubby! _Come on, Satoshi, you've _got _to know part of this song. Every child who has ever watched the show knows it. Sing with me now." He grinned and nudged the detective in the ribs.

Satoshi was laughing too hard to sing along, but he managed somehow to squeak out the backup parts, the doo-doo-doo's and the rub-a-dub-a-dubbies. By the time they finished the song, the both of them were writhing on the pallet with the blankets twisted about them, rolling with laughter and clutching at their sides.

"Rub-a-dub-a-dubby!" Satoshi giggled as they calmed down somewhat. "Where did that come from, Daisuke?" He sighed with contentment and the last of his giggles as he rested his cocked head on the younger boy's chest.

"The middle of the bathtub." He grinned. "Really, it was just to make you smile," Daisuke answered softly. Absently his hands went back to caressing the blunette's hair.

He sighed again and snuggled into the touch. "Hn…"

The laughter subsided until they were quiet, content to be close in the darkness of the cave. The storm raged outside, but as long as Daisuke stroked away the phobia, Satoshi didn't allow himself to think of it. Finally he realized that he was starting to shiver again, this time with cold. He sat up to do something about it.

Suddenly a grating noise echoed through their haven, and there was granddaddy of all eruptions as outside something big shifted. A crash heavy and deep enough shook the entire mountain beneath them, and dust and rock powder sprinkled on them from above. Satoshi leaned over Daisuke, shielding the younger boy's body with his own as the pebbles and dirt came filtering down. Daisuke was reminded of the day before—had it only been the morning before?—when Satoshi had shoved him against the lockers and hid him from sight of the vice principal. He stared up into Satoshi's face.

As quickly as it began, it was over again, and there were no further arguments from the earth. Slowly Satoshi pulled away from over him. "Are you okay?" he asked softly, almost afraid to speak.

"Fine," Daisuke answered just as quietly. "You?"

"Fine." Satoshi sat back on his heels and looked around, but he could see only as well as he could've thirty seconds ago, which was to say not very well. Nothing looked different. He shook the dust from his hair. "I'm going outside to see what that was. I'll be right back."

Briefly Daisuke's hand touched his hair, then he dropped it. "Okay. Be careful."

Satoshi grinned though he knew Daisuke probably couldn't see. "I will be." Cautiously he crawled over the boy and over towards the entrance.

He was halfway through the tunnel leading to the outside world when he had to stop. The tunnel was sealed up the rest of the way by a thick pile of icy snow crystals, frozen together into one lump. They bit into his hands as he tried to shift them. There was no telling how far this pile extended, but even lying flat on his back and pushing against the icy rock he couldn't budge it. They were well and truly caught.

Numbly the detective crawled back into the cavern and towards Daisuke. He stopped as he sat down on the pallet beside the injured boy and pulled his duffel bag into his lap. As he fished around for another candle and his lighter, he heard Daisuke's quiet voice behind him. "How bad is it?"

_Do I tell him, or no? _Satoshi wondered. "Oh, not too awful," he answered with a forced cheerfulness after a moment. "How are you feeling?"

Daisuke saw right through him. "We're stuck in here, aren't we? That sliding was an avalanche."

"Wh-whatever gave you th-th-that idea?"

"You're stuttering, for one." Daisuke reached around him and rested one hand on Satoshi's. "And you've been turning the flint on that lighter for the past twenty seconds, but all you're doing is making sparks." Gently he squeezed Satoshi's hand. "It'll be all right, Detective, really."

Satoshi nodded, but didn't say anything. Finally he got the lighter to light and lit the wick of the candle, then another, and another, until he had enough light to comfort him. In the flickering candlelight he could see the worry lines creasing Daisuke's milk-pale features, thrown into shock by the ruby of his hair and eyes. Daisuke wasn't worried about being trapped, he realized, he was worried about _him. _Bravely he tried to smile and was sure he failed miserably when the redhead grimaced.

So he changed the subject. "You didn't answer my other question. How are you feeling?"

"I'll survive," Daisuke said softly. "It's getting cold in here again."

The detective surveyed the damage they'd done to their bedding. The blankets were twisted up into ropes around the redhead's waist, and the bottom pallets had been unfolded and bunched up. As gently as he could, Satoshi straightened the bottom blankets without moving Daisuke, then shook out and draped the top blankets back over him. "Don't worry," he said as he did this, "we'll leave a few of the candles burning. The hot spring in the corner will give off enough oxygen, and there's some kind of venting in here, otherwise there'd be too much steam for us to breathe. So we'll just go back to sleep for a bit. In the morning you can bathe and get bundled up better while I think of a way to get us out of here."

"Okay." Daisuke lay there and watched the detective. Satoshi's hands were shaking horribly from nerves caused by the storm, and his face was turning pink with cold. As he leaned down to tuck the blankets around Daisuke, the redhead grabbed his wrist gently. "Are you going to sleep with me again?" He tried not to blush. "It's getting cold."

For a moment, the blunette searched his eyes in the dim candlelight, then nodded and slid under the sheets himself. Daisuke took both of the older boy's hands between his own and chafed them gently, urging circulation through the veins. He lifted Satoshi's fingertips to his lips and breathed on them, warm moist air. Satoshi could only stare at him as Daisuke began massaging his palms and fingertips.

Uneasily Daisuke looked away. "Well, if I don't get you warmed up, how am I supposed to warm up?" he sniped in answer to the unasked question. "Besides, if I'm going to wake up with your hands on my back again, I don't want them to be blocks of ice."

Satoshi noted Daisuke's need to change the subject and nearly smiled, though he was confused himself. "Go to sleep, Daisuke, I'll be fine."

But as they shifted themselves until they were comfortable, this time Daisuke's body was draped around Satoshi's. The redhead rested his cheek on the top of the blunette's head and sighed contentedly as he felt the other boy's shivers quiet. Slowly the warmth returned to their haven as they slept, and still they stayed locked in that comforting embrace.

—ZN—

Yes, more notes, sorry to bother you once again. The dream Daisuke had in the beginning of this chapter actually occurred in the animes (at least in the Japanese anime), but there it was told from Riku's point of view. She was the little girl to whom the bear belonged. Daisuke jumped the fence (which, I might add, was about ten feet tall) and ran up to the Haunted House, got her bear, and came back within moments, but I decided to make up him finding the bear. Hope you like it.

Hmm, there was something else… Oh yeah! Ha HA, Heather Christi, was that funny enough for the rubber duckie brigade? ebil grin I got the lyrics off a google search, hope they're accurate enough. Normally the only parts to that song I can remember are "rubber duckie, you're the one, you make bath time lots of fun" and that's it. I haven't watched Sesame Street since I was three. . I thought it was cute… looks around didn't you?

cricket, cricket

o.o;; Anybody?

Cricket, Cricket

o.O;; whistles the Rubber Duckie tune and bounces on her heels is anybody out there?

CRICKET, CRICKET

runs off in tears THE EBIL CRICKETS ARE OUT TO GET ME!!!

I HOPE you know, fanfiction is playing hell in formatting this chapter, so it's taking me forever to get it right. Please bear with me!


	8. VIII

—ZN—

In case you're wondering where I heard that Satoshi has low blood pressure, it says so in the back of DNAngel volume three.

Hai is Japanese for yes. Gomen means "sorry," and gomen nasai means "I'm very sorry." Daisuki, as I'm sure you know, means "I like you very much" or "I like it very much," depending on how it's used. Arigato is "thank you."

Um… that's pretty much all for now, except… Does ANYBODY know why my dog likes to sleep under my computer desk?!

—v—v—v—v—v—v—v—v—v—v—v—v—v

A muffled moan escaped the blankets as they parted. Satoshi's gaze shifted to the mess of bedding before slowly sliding back into space blankly. He sat with his back against the cool stone walls and his arms resting on his knees, staring at the dust-motes dancing in the candlelight. The coldness of the air of the cave didn't touch him; nor did the fact that a very-tousled red head poked out of the folds of the quilting.

"Hiwatari-kun?" Daisuke asked softly and sat up, very careful not to jar his ankle too much. "Hiwatari-kun, are you okay?"

The blunette's eyes slowly spanned the cave to lock onto the redhead's. Daisuke was startled to see the cloudy blankness in his friend's eyes. _Is he _stoned? Daisuke wondered as he stared into the detective's absent eyes. _Do we have anything to get stoned on? _

Satoshi's head tilted to the side and his eyes slid closed. He yawned, stretched, and sat back up again, eyes opening once more to stare into Daisuke's. The younger boy suppressed a shiver.

For almost ten minutes they sat like that, staring at one another, before Satoshi's eyes began to clear to their usual bright selves. During the time, Daisuke had slowly become sleepy again and laid back down. He was in the process of trying to roll onto his side without hurting his ankle when the detective's voice stopped him.

"Niwa-kun? Are you awake still?"

"_Hai._ Are you okay?"

"_Hai_," he answered softly.

"Why were you staring like that?" Daisuke asked just as quietly.

Satoshi explained, "I have very low blood pressure, Niwa-kun, and when I wake up in the mornings, it's generally very hard for me to focus on anything for a while before my blood pressure wakes itself up. Usually I sit in a hazy daze for a half-hour or so."

"Oh."

"Did I scare you?"

After a moment, the redhead answered quietly, "A little."

The older boy shifted onto his hands and knees and crawled over to his friend. "_Gomen_," he whispered. "I didn't mean to frighten you."

"I know." Daisuke gave up trying to sleep on his side and flopped onto his back. "It's all right."

"Are you hungry?" Satoshi shifted uncomfortably and changed the subject. The way Daisuke was looking at him made his stomach do anxious little flips, and he didn't know why. "We have some cereal bars and water for breakfast."

Daisuke nodded. "I am, a bit. I'll have a cereal bar, if that's all right."

Satoshi nodded and pulled his bag over to them. After a moment of rummaging, he pulled out one of the water bottles and handed it to Daisuke, and then produced a couple of the desired food products. He moved so he was sitting directly behind Daisuke, and then carefully hoisted the redhead up until he was sitting in Satoshi's lap, scooting forward all the while so Daisuke's ankle didn't get moved too much. Daisuke's face flushed almost as red as his hair, but he said nothing when Satoshi handed him his breakfast.

"What about you?" Daisuke asked around a mouthful of the crunchy cereal. "Aren't you hungry?"

"No, not really." Satoshi silently ordered his stomach not to complain at the lack of food. _Daisuke needs it more than I do right now. I'll get a little something later. _He took a stolen sip of the redhead's water and absently rested his cheek against his soft ruby locks. "You go ahead."

"All right…"

The food was gone in moments and Daisuke sagged against Satoshi. He yawned again and closed his eyes. Satoshi's arms snaked their way around his waist as the younger boy snuggled closer to him. "Rest, Daisuke. I've got you, don't worry."

"Mmkay," Daisuke mumbled and relaxed. Satoshi shuffled back until the other boy's head rested in his lap, and pulled the blanket up over Daisuke's sleepy form. Crimson eyes opened fuzzily and he smiled his thanks.

Satoshi smiled tenderly down at his friend and stroked his forehead lightly. "Sleep."

Within seconds, Daisuke was unconscious again. Satoshi examined his face quietly, watching how his expression smoothed from one of a goofy, somewhat pained child's to that of a mature young adult.

_He looks so different when he's relaxed so completely, _the detective reflected absently._ He's actually kind of cute. _

Humming a few bars to an old folk song, Satoshi fetched his novel from his bag and flipped it open to his place. While he read, he stroked Daisuke's forehead and hair lightly, keeping the younger boy soothed in sleep.

—v—v—v—v—v—v—v—v—v—v—v—v—v

"Come on, Daisuke—"

"Absolutely _not!_"

"Why not?"

"That _hurts!_"

Satoshi glared at Daisuke, who glowered right back. The detective stood with his fisted hands on his hips, staring down at his friend and tapping his foot on the stone floor. "You're just being a big baby."

Daisuke stared defiantly right back. "Goo, goo." He stuck his thumb in his mouth.

At any other time, Satoshi would've smiled. But right now he was a bit preoccupied. He sighed. "Daisuke, it's for your own good."

"That's what _you _think. I'll be just fine without it, thank you very much."

"You didn't have any objections to it last time!"

"_Last time _you did it I was unconscious! Or have you forgotten?"

Satoshi sighed heavily again. "Daisuke, I don't want it getting infected—"

"That's what the damn bandage is for!" Daisuke pointed at the band-aid stuck to his forehead and glared daggers at his caretaker. "I'll be fine."

"Just let me clean the cut out again."

"No!"

The blunette's thoughts raced as he figured the odds. An injured sixteen-year-old who is, otherwise, in excellent physical condition against an uninjured sixteen-year-old in better than average physical condition. _I think I can take him… _

As if reading his thoughts, the younger boy's eyes widened. Startled claret clashed with determined sapphire. "No. Hiwatari-kun—Satoshi—no!"

The tube of antiseptic gel in one hand and a couple of q-tips in the other, Satoshi pounced on Daisuke, careful of his leg. He pinned Daisuke's legs down with his own while his hands went to the redhead's shoulders. Still, Daisuke gave a good fight before Satoshi wrestled his wrists to either side of his head and held them there. The gel and q-tips had skittered to the other side of the cave during the short struggle.

Daisuke lay there, panting and staring up at Satoshi. Of their own accord, his fingers intertwined with the older boy's. The blunette glanced from their joined hands to Daisuke's eyes and back, shocked. Daisuke blushed a bit. "_Gomen… Gomen nasai…_"

Satoshi said nothing, just got off him and retrieved the antiseptic and q-tips. "Will you let me help you?" he asked quietly.

The younger boy pushed himself up on his hands and nodded somewhat miserably. He carefully avoided meeting his friend's eyes as Satoshi sat down behind him and gently rested his head in his lap. As the detective took off the band-aid and began cleaning the cut out, Daisuke closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "Hiwatari-kun?"

"_Nani_?" Satoshi didn't look him from his task.

"_Dai…dai…daisuki_."

Satoshi's hands stilled in the process of re-bandaging his friend's forehead. He stared down at Daisuke's closed eyes. "_Na…ni_?" he whispered.

The redhead was inwardly crushed, but shrugged it off. "I mean…" He sighed. "It doesn't hurt. _Arigato_."

A quiet moment passed between them after Satoshi had finished his task. Daisuke sat there in silence, embarrassed and upset. When Satoshi noticed something was wrong, he asked, "Niwa-kun? Are you okay?"

"M…my ankle hurts," Daisuke said lamely. _How could I have just blurted it out like that? _he thought, angry with himself. _That was so _stupid. _How can he like me back? I only _now _realized I like him. _He sighed.

The older boy stared down at him before going to his bag obediently and sifting though the chaos of the rapidly emptying bag. He gave Daisuke some medication to keep the pain and swelling in his ankle down, a side-effect of which was drowsiness. When the redhead was asleep once more, the detective ran wondering fingers down his friend's cheek very gently. His own eyes widened for a moment, then softened. Tears threatened to trickle out, but he staunchly kept them back. His voice was naught but an unsteady whisper of sound.

"…_Daisuki, Niwa-kun."_

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—ZN—

I'll have you know… it took me forever just to get this chapter to fifteen hundred words… bout drove me crazy…

(Duo) Drove _you _crazy?! _I _had to listen to "Duo, I need nine more words!" "Duo, how'd it get to twenty one?" "Duo, help me!" "Duo!"

(Nozomu) At least she picked on you and not me. ::nodnod::

(Duo) Rub it in, pretty boy, your day will come… ::plotplot::

(Nozomu and Zan) ::rolls eyes::

Currently I'm fending off an attack of the ebil writers' block (isn't that why I have muses, so I can be immune to it?! Apparently not…) and so I prolly won't be updating NEAR as much… I'm really sowwie!! ::snifflesniffle::

EBIL FANFICTION, TAKING AWAY OUR STARS AND OUR SWIRLY MARKY THINGS AND OUR POINTY THINGS AND MAKING US REVERT TO USING COLONS!! ::looks around:: ::hides from twin's flying shoes:: yeah... WHAT HAPPENED TO THE INDENTS?!


	9. IX

**_Author's Notes:_**

_New format (sorta, it's very similar to the other…) to go with a new chapter. How good is that? Hn! Hmm. Now, onto the technical stuff. I don't own anything DNAngel (besides my personal copies of the mangas… but a friend of mine gave me a _really _neato site for some cool stuff like wall scrolls… .:conspires to snitch her mum's credit card one day:. Heh…), so there's that. _

_One last thing before I go on to start chapter nine (I'm on nine, right? Gah, school's so hectic!! X.x My editor hates me i-i), I want to start something new for me, and it's prolly just a one-chapter thing… I don't know, depends on how this one goes. I'm going to start chapter dedications, but I'm not gonna tell the person I'm dedicating the chapter to that they're getting a dedication… so it'll be a surprise… yeah. Hn. Anyway!! _

_This chapter is going to be dedicated to my very, _very _dear friend Angelis… Thank you _so _very much, Angel, for just being my friend and everything you've done. Daisuki, boku enjeru-o! .:super-hyper-huggle:. Arigato, ke'chara. _

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The blunet sat on his heels, panting a bit, and wiped his forearm across his brow. He was trying to dig through the snow, but the going was slow. The snow had frozen over, half-melted, and frozen over once more, and now there was a transparent, glossy sheen of thick ice over the granular snow. "You know," he said conversationally over his shoulder, "this is very disheartening. I've been at this for an hour, and I've only made about an inch of progress."

Daisuke was sitting in the hot spring, leaning over with his elbows on the cold stone floor and watching the detective with an odd expression playing across his face. "At least we'll have plenty of water," he joked absently.

"That's true." Satoshi sighed and decided to take a break. He stood up, stretching, and winced as he heard and felt his spine crack and pop, then dropped down onto his knees at the edge of the pool. They'd filled an empty water bottle with ice grains, lidded it as tightly as they could, and then put it in the hot water to melt the ice.

The redhead turned his cheek onto his arms to follow the other boy with his crimson eyes. Everything seemed so different, but he couldn't place when it had happened, why, or even _what _had happened. All he knew was that Satoshi seemed… different. There wasn't really any other word for it. _I already told him I like him,_ the younger boy thought despondently. _What an idiot! _He hit himself in the head. _Baka!_

"Hn." He slid down the bank a bit until his forehead rested on the stone floor. _But is it lust… or…_

From afar, it seemed, he felt the water close over the top of his head. The heat of the pool enveloped him, deliciously numbing his limbs, sapping energy from his mind. Dimly he heard the blunet's worried voice, then felt himself being jerked up. The sudden rush of cold air on his warmed body woke him with a shock, and he found himself staring into the anxious crystal-blue eyes of the object of his torment.

_…Or love?_

**_Love? Who loves?_**

_I love… _A slight burning sensation began in the pit of his stomach, spreading warmth throughout his body.

**_Love who?_**

_I love… him. _Suddenly the tiny flame within him burst into an angry blaze, slowly licking at his insides. Daisuke felt his eyes widen and he curled around himself. _My body… it feels like I'm on fire… _Gasping weakly for the air that would not come, he sank into a loving oblivion in Satoshi's embrace.

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Satoshi pulled the bottle up from the sulfurous-smelling water and pretended to check the fluidity of its contents, but really he was watching Daisuke from the corner of his eye. What was on the redhead's mind? Daisuke had been oddly quiet since he'd awakened that morning, wrapped up once more in Satoshi's arms. _Is he coming down with anything? I hope not… _

The redhead had slowly started slipping back into the water. Usually the commander left the younger boy to his own devices in the water, just checking up on him every so often to make sure his ankle didn't cause him to drown—it was much like babysitting, he thought—but he didn't like the blank, not-all-there look in Daisuke's eyes this time. Which was why, when the redhead didn't come back up right away after slipping under the water's surface, Satoshi leaned far in and snagged the boy's wrist, pulling him up into his lap and ignoring the wet.

Daisuke stared up at Satoshi as if seeing him for the first time ever. The blunet had to suppress a blush, much to his surprise. But then the younger boy's lovely claret eyes widened and squeezed closed, and he wrapped himself around his middle. A sudden, sick kind of gasping came from his throat, and he pressed himself against Satoshi's abdomen.

"Niwa-kun? Niwa-kun!" Satoshi rocked the redhead in his arms, thoughts racing. _What's happening to him? His skin is so hot… _"Daisuke!"

Suddenly the redhead's body was engulfed in a brilliant white light, so bright Satoshi had to look away and shield his eyes with one arm. "Nani?!"

When he was once more able to look towards his friend, it took a moment of furious blinking for Satoshi's eyes to work properly. The vision before him didn't change. He found himself staring into the curious, brilliant violet eyes of a stranger, not the gentle vermilion of his classmate. The blunet was on his feet in a flash, dumping the strange boy on the ground in a heap. In that moment, Satoshi knew his life would never be the same.

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The boy at his feet was definitely not Daisuke, Satoshi figured. This new teen was somewhat older, more mature-looking than Daisuke. His face was longer, thinner, as was his body. The stranger's hair was a deep shade of indigo and violet to match his eyes, but it looked natural. His body was gracefully slender, not too lean. For a moment he seemed almost familiar to Satoshi, but the feeling was only fleeting.

The detective stared as the other boy sorted his hair out of his eyes and glared up at him. _"What did you do that for, Hiwatari-kun?"_

"Who are you?" Satoshi demanded. "What did you do with Daisuke?"

The other boy's head tilted to the side and his eyes slid out of focus, then back in. _"He's here as well, and just as puzzled as you. Did his mother not explain it?"_

"He doesn't have a mother," the blunet snapped. "Explain what?"

_"Hmm. I probably shouldn't be telling _you _this, but I don't see any way around it. I am called Dark Mousy, but am otherwise known as the Phantom Thief. Perhaps you've heard of me?"_

Satoshi's eyes widened as his memory supplied his mind with the information. "Impossible! The Phantom Thief robbed museums and art galleries forty years ago! They never figured out who was behind it…Where is Daisuke?"

_"Has it really been that long?" _He sighed. _"Must've been a girl, then… and I told you, he is here as well, and he is fine. Shut up about him for a moment, I'm trying to explain this to you," _Dark snapped, annoyed. _"Unless you'd rather not know."_

Satoshi shut up. Dark smirked. _"I thought so. Anyway, in Daisuke's family, there is a certain gene. This gene says that the firstborn male children in the line shall share their bodies with me when they turn fourteen, and every time thereafter they become sexually excited, until their first love bears fruit. The first time they transform, they just take on my physical appearance, but when they change because of emotion, I come along with the package. Handy, isn't it?" _He flashed Satoshi a peace-sign.

"Why did he change now?"

Dark shrugged. _"I don't know, I just woke up. Maybe he was having very entertaining thoughts… This generation could be fun." _A wicked grin crossed his face.

The detective glowered. "How does he change back?"

_"It works both ways."_

_And since we're stuck in this cave, unless he gets the hots for me, _Satoshi thought with a sinking heart, _I'm stuck with him. _

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**_Author's Note: _**

_Okay, that wasn't too awful, was it? It should be easy to tell who's talking when… Dark speaks in italics and quotes, everyone else is in normal with quotes. Thoughts are just in italics. I can't exactly change fonts like they do in the manga, since fanfiction strips the stories of their fonts. What's going to be interesting is showing the banter between Daisuke and Dark… Yeah. Fun. Anyway. That's chapter nine. Short, I know, I'm sorry!! But I think the quality is very good, and like they say, quality over quantity! Heh… o.o;; yeah. Please, drop by a review. I like those, and I'll be more inclined to write another chapter. Thank you all again for reading!!_


	10. X

**_Author's Note _**

_Over 100 reviews!! .:Jumping up and down:. Thank you, thank you, thank you all!! .:Super-hyper-huggle-pounce Angel:. Number 100, I love you!!! .:Super-hyper-huggle-pounce twin:. Averon, Thankies for reading and reviewing!!! .:Dances with glee:. .:Breaks a heel on her boots:. .:Falls and twists her ankle:. OWIE!! .:Cries:. _

_(Nozomu) .:Blinkblink:. I don't know you… .:Helps her up anyway:. Get to it, girly-q. _

_.:Nodnod:. .:Gets to typing:._

_One question before I get to the story: Does anybody know what town Daisuke and Satoshi live in? I know the name of their high school is mentioned in the mangas (I can't think of it right now, but I'll go look it up sooner or later), but I don't know what town they live in…I don't think it's Tokyo (that didn't look like Tokyo in the mangas… or Kyoto (though I wouldn't really know, never having been to either of them… It just didn't look busy or crowded enough to be a big city to me)) Hm. Oh well. If you know, please help me out!! _

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_This chapter is dedicated to my dear twin sister, Averon. Thank you so much for your support and guidance… I love you, sis!! .:Huggle:._

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Outside the day was fading in its never-ending cycle, blending into the night. Satoshi felt the changes in the temperature in the cave and glanced at his watch. It was about the time he and Daisuke usually went to sleep; what was he going to do tonight? Daisuke wasn't here, and he'd be damned if he was sleeping beside that… thief.

_But you do have to admit, he is kind of cute… _Satoshi couldn't keep the insidious voice inside him from whispering.

The object of his thoughts was sitting in the corner by the lagoon, feet dangling in the water. A plastic bottle, half-filled with water, was balanced precariously on its side edge: Dark was trying to make it balance on the rim. Every time he took his fingers away from the plastic top, however, the bottle invariably toppled into the water. The thief looked bored as he retrieved the bottle and tried once more. However, an hour of performing this feat over and over and always having it splash in their face could wear down anyone's nerves, even the famous Phantom Thief. His face was starting to turn red as he snatched the bottle from the lake once more.

The detective suppressed a grin and set about making their bed. The thief looked up, tossing a bit of violently violet hair from his matching eyes. _"What are you doing?" _he asked, bottle forgotten.

"I'm making our bed," Satoshi said neutrally. He doubled the blanketing on the ground over itself again and began making a nest of the last two. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

Our_ bed? As in share?"_ The other boy was startled into actually pushing the bottle into the water. This time he left it there.

"Hai, _our. _I don't know if you know this or not, but at night it drops to below freezing out there. This cave isn't quite as bad because of the heat given off by the lake, but it still gets too cold." His frosty gaze drifted up to pierce the older boy's. "Hence, we share. Got it?"

_"Hai," _he said sullenly and went back to staring sullenly at the waves drawn upon the wall by the reflection of the water's surface. He kicked the bottle in the water further into the lake.

The bed was arranged in a matter of moments. Satoshi sat in the center on his knees and pulled his jacket on over his long-sleeved top. "Bed time. Apparently since you're not limited by Niwa-kun's twisted ankle, you can help dig us out of here tomorrow."

_"And if I don't want to help?" _Dark asked moodily, pointedly ignoring the blunet's first statement.

"Then it'll just take us that much longer to get out of here. And our food's running low as it is."

He didn't deign to answer, and he didn't move, either. The thief just sat there, staring at the wall. "Well?" Satoshi asked impatiently. He was tired from trying to break through the snow all day and his body cried out for rest.

**_This guy's starting to get on my nerves, _**Dark thought. **_Maybe I oughta… _**

_Don't you _dare _harm him! _Daisuke screamed from the back of his mind. _Just go to sleep, damn you! Or, better yet, change back into me. There must be _somebody _whom you love! _

Instantly the image of a pretty brunette twirling a lacy parasol coquettishly flashed into the thief's mind, and his heart twisted painfully in his chest. **_Rika… _**Then a tearing pain spread through his body as the bones crunched and reverted back into their normal size and stature. His hair shrunk and shifted from the dark blue-violet to a violent red colour. Daisuke's body crumpled onto the banks.

"Dark-san?" Gentle hands scooped the boy's body up into deceptively strong arms. Daisuke kept his eyes closed and buried his face in Satoshi's jacket. "Niwa-kun." There was a noticeable softening in the commander's voice, and even—a smile?

Satoshi folded down onto his knees and just held the redhead for a moment before carefully stretching the younger boy out. "Does your ankle hurt, _kaji?_"

"A little." Daisuke tilted his head to the side and opened his eyes to mere slits. Satoshi noticed thankfully that they were back to their lovely crimson depths. When the older boy made to stand, however, Daisuke reached out and snatched at his hand. "It's not as bad as that—I don't need medicine. Just… stay with me? Didn't you say it was time to go to sleep?"

"I did…" Slowly he knelt back down and stretched out beside the redhead, keeping eye contact. "Are you sure you're all right, kaji?" His knuckles traced down Daisuke's cheek softly, reverently. The redhead tried not to lean into the touch.

He nodded instead. "I'm fine." Impatiently he scooted closer to Satoshi while being careful not to hurt himself. "It's cold, Hiwatari-kun," he whined.

"Satoshi," the commander corrected gently. "I'd like you to call me Satoshi from now on." He reached down and pulled the blankets up and over the two of them.

"Satoshi," Daisuke agreed, then laid his head on the blunet's chest. "_Arigato._"

The blunet smiled down on his friend and tucked the blankets in around them. Fondly he stroked the other boy's hair and relaxed. A single candle flickered in the far corner. _Usually Daisuke doesn't like it being this dark. Perhaps he didn't notice. _

**_That was a dirty trick, _**Dark complained in the back of Daisuke's mind. **_It was dirty and rotten and mean. Do you know how _long _I've waited to be out—to breathe?! _**

_Do I care? _Daisuke countered. He was feeling uncharacteristically mean, but he figured it was justified—how often does an average teenage boy turn into another person, especially when that other person is a phantom thief eons old?

The thief just sighed in his mind and faded out. Daisuke could still feel him, lurking in the farther recesses of his mind, and knew that if he but called, Dark would be there. It was an oddly comforting feeling, one that Daisuke wasn't sure he actually wanted or not. He'd spent all his life trying to learn not to depend upon anyone else, and here was this thief, his other self. Could he learn to depend on him, to have a friend?

Satoshi was quicker to sleep than Daisuke, his body worn-out from trying to break the ice. His arms were still locked securely about Daisuke's torso, however. For a while Daisuke just lay there, content to hold and be held. It was a while before he fell asleep, and when he did, he dreamt of strange shape-shifting creatures and a coquettish brunette.

_v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v_

Daisuke sighed and crammed ice into an empty bottle. Satoshi was drinking the water faster than it melted; he was back at trying to dig them out. The blunet had worked up a fine sweat and he sat on his knees panting as he rubbed a small handful of ice over the back of his neck. "Whew… Never would've thought this could've been such hard work."

The redhead sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm no use to you at all. I should've stayed as Dark, then I could help."

Satoshi smiled and ruffled the boy's hair. "It's all right, kaji. What could you do, really, even uninjured? There's not enough room down the tunnel for the both of us."

"I know…" He sighed again. "Still."

"Let's take your mind off it. Here—" The commander shifted over next to him. "Lay down and let me look at your forehead. That cut ought to be healing nicely, but I just want to check."

Obediently Daisuke stretched out and rested his head in Satoshi's lap. He smiled up at the commander and playfully tugged at a bit of Satoshi's hair. He flashed a peace sign. Satoshi found himself smiling and chucking. "Baka," he said affectionately. "Now, settle down. When I'm done here, I'd like to look at your ankle again, okay, kaji?"

"Okay." After a pause, Daisuke chimed in, "Satoshi?"

"Nani?"

"Why do you call me 'kaji'?"

"It comes from your hair colour." Absently Satoshi tugged on a lock of the vermilion tresses as if to emphasize a point.

"Oh."

"Hn." The commander put another band-aid on his forehead, then helped Daisuke sit up. He moved around and very gently pulled Daisuke's swollen ankle into his lap. "This is going to hurt," he said, glancing up at the redhead.

Daisuke nodded but said nothing. Satoshi took that as a sign to continue and very carefully began unwrapping the gauze that held the ankle still. The colour drained from the younger boy's face as the pain shot up his leg and through his body. His hand scrabbled until it closed on Satoshi's. The blunet squeezed his hand tightly, then went back to work.

"It looks like it's healing," he said after a moment, "but I still don't want you up. I'm going to rewrap it and give you some more medication, okay?"

"You sure seem to like putting me to sleep," Daisuke commented between clenched teeth as Satoshi wrapped clean gauze over his ankle.

"It's much more peaceful that way," Satoshi said teasingly and flashed a grin at the startled boy. "Really, it'll heal better the more you sleep." He scooped the boy back into his arms and smiled. "Besides, don't you like being carried around?"

"It's starting to grow on me," the redhead admitted as he rested his head on Satoshi's shoulder.

Satoshi stretched him back out on their bed and tucked him back in, then gave him a bottle of half-melted ice and some medication. They were running low, but Satoshi judged that, even with how slow the digging was going, they'd be out in a day or two. It shouldn't matter. "Sleep well," he said softly and stroked Daisuke's cheek. "Sleep well."

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**_Author's Note_**

_Crummy, yes, I needed to end it quickly cuz I'm supposed to be in bed now. .:Looks around:. I won't tell if you won't. I wanted to get this chapter up for my loyal reviewers—I love you all!_

_Anyway, kaji means "fire." Just thought I'd point that out…_

_Rika (I made a mistake when I first posted this chapter: I said it was Riku when the name is Rika) was Risa and Riku's grandmother, whom Dark loved way back when he was sharing a body with Daisuke's grandfather. It's all in the animes—I'm sorry for everyone who read it and got confused or whatnot. While Dark does respond to Riku sometimes, he always responds to Rika (but she's dead in the animes, so I don't think that matters much.) _

_I think that's all I have to comment on. If I forgot anything, I'll put it in with the next chapter. Thanks for reading, and please review!___


	11. XI

_**Author's Notes**_

_Wow, it took a while to write and post chapter 11... Wonder how this will affect my reviews? .:Ish entirely selfish when it comes to reviews:. This is my firstest ever story to get over 100 reviews. I love you guys! .:Super-ultra huggles to all who reviewed:._

_Hmmerz... A few notes to those who reviewed that I feel I just have to get back to: _

_To Angel: You _print _my stories out? .:Super-blush:. I'm not _that _good, hun... And if you can't email me, I at least want ya to review my stories so I know you're not dead in a ditch somewhere! o.-_

_To Hika-King: I'll read your story as soon as you tell me to. Promise! .:Bowbow:. I'm glad my story's starting to grow on you; I'm rather fond of my characters, even if they aren't exactly like those from the animes... Is it getting any better? .:Hopeful eyes:._

_To Heather Christi: I noticed that typo too (-.- Too lazy to fix it, actually... hope you don't mind! -.-;;). While I love your idea (honest, I do) that's not quite what I had in mind for this story. Admittedly them being stuck in the cave is getting _awfully _boring—there's only so much you can do in a cave, and so many times .:coughcough:.—and under those circumstances, I decided that, instead of ending this one soon (it didn't exactly get to be as long as I wanted it to be. Darn!), I'm going to just combine it and the ideas I had for the sequel into one. That'll make it longer, and hopefully it'll flow better. .:Bowbow:. Please be patient with me!! _

_Well, that's all for now! I'll add up more author's notes when I get more reviews that need answered, or when I think of something that needs to be better explained, mmkayz? Thankies, and onto chapter eleven!!_

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_Okay, that was lame, I just remembered something. v.v Yes, we all know Zan needs help. Anyway! This chapter is going to be what would've been the last two (or three) chapters had I kept the story separated into two instead of combining them. As such, I'm going to start TRYING to make the chapters longer. As it is, I try to make them 1500 words at the very least, but apparently that's pretty short. So, I'll prolly shoot for somewhere between 2000-2500 at the least. Better? Kay! Here we go! .:Jumps around enthusiastically:._

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The first breath of fresh air was wonderful, crisp and cool. Satoshi stuck his head out of the hole in the ice and breathed in the cold mountain air with an obvious relish. After spending so long cooped up in that cave, he was afraid he'd become claustrophobic. _Admit it, you _were _glad you were there with Niwa, _the voice from somewhere inside him taunted. As had become his custom, Satoshi ignored the voice and turned to his companion. "Are you coming, Dark-san?"

"_I'm coming, I'm coming. Move out of the way." _

The commander grinned and pulled himself out into the snow. It was two days after Daisuke had first transformed into the thief, and now Satoshi was beginning to become accustomed to the mysterious Dark Mousy. There was an odd, somewhat seductive aura surrounding the thief that intrigued the commander, and he didn't know why. It bugged Satoshi, but he just let it go. He brushed the snow off a nearby small boulder and settled atop it, watching the older boy struggle to get out through the small gap in the ice.

Late afternoon sunlight filtered in through the sparse trees above the mouth of the cave. The blunet stared up at the sky and let the warmth of the sun's rays flow over him, absorbing it into his skin. It felt wonderful to be free, but a part of him would always lament the loss of the time spent only with the sensual redhead.

Dark was struggling to get their belongings out of the cave. He'd packed them all back into the bag as well as he could, but still the duffel was awkward, overstuffed. _**How'd it get so bulky? If anything there's less in there than there was when you two got here!**_

Daisuke sighed in the back of his mind. Dark's eyes slid out of focus as he narrowed his concentration on the cheerless redhead in the back of his consciousness. Over the past two days as the tunnel to freedom had progressed, Daisuke had become increasingly surly and withdrawn. _Not that he was all that open to me in the first place,_Dark thought to himself with a little sigh of his own. He shook his head and tugged at the bag again.

"Let me get that." Satoshi hopped down off his rock and nudged the older boy out of the way. Dark crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back on his left foot, watching the blunet. _Why does he feel so strange to me? _the thief thought dimly. _**What is it about him...?**_ He let the thought drift over to Daisuke, but the redhead only sighed in response.

In a moment Satoshi hoisted the bag up onto his shoulder. He glanced up at the sky, then about them. "Everything looks so different in the daylight, but I think it's this way."

"_What makes you so certain?" _Dark rubbed his hands over his upper arms and glared at the breath that puffed up in front of his face. _"And why is it so damn cold up here, anyway?"_

Satoshi looked back at him with an I-don't-believe-you-said-that look on his face, rolled his eyes, and turned back to his chosen path. "Didn't Dark-san have a pair of black wings?" he tossed back over his shoulder as he picked his way carefully down the slope.

"_Hai. I suppose I could call Wiz to us, but that would be too easy." _The truth of the matter was, Dark was enjoying himself too much for it to end now. He wanted to toy with Satoshi a bit longer.

They walked a bit longer in silence, the commander leading and the thief docilely picking a path after him. "Dark-san, why did I wake up beside _you _this morning instead of Niwa-kun?"

He mulled over the answer for a moment, then said calmly and conversationally, _"Dai-chan was having... interesting... dreams last night. I suppose he transformed in his sleep."_

"I see. Who was he dreaming ab—!" The rest of the question was lost as Satoshi's foot landed on a slick patch and he slipped, tumbling down a short cliff.

_**Dammit, **_Dark thought as he flung himself down over the cliff, expertly maneuvering his body on the ice so as to remain uninjured, _**what is it with you two and cliffs?! **_This he spat at Daisuke. The redhead came alive in the back of his mind instantly. _Satoshi! _

Dark slid to a halt at the bottom of the slope and stood, dusting the powdery snow off his clothing. He looked around, but there was no sign of the mysterious blunet. "_Hiwatari-san?" _he called softly. _"Hiwatari-san, where are you?"_

_Where is he, Dark? _Daisuke was scrambling in his mind, clambering to get out. _Find him, he may be hurt!_

_**He'll be fine, Daisuke, **_Dark soothed as he began hunting around for the commander.

"I'm right here." Satoshi pulled himself from a snow bank and brushed the icy crystals from his eyes. The brief slip into the drift already had his teeth chattering and he rubbed at his arms in an attempt to warm up. His clothing was saturated. "Just slipped is all."

"_Klutz." _Dark sauntered over to the younger boy and slowly walked a circle around him, staring the commander up and down.

"What?" Satoshi snapped right before he sneezed. His bangs blew into his eyes, crystallized by the snow. He glared at them.

Dark said nothing but suddenly wrapped his arms around the younger boy. Satoshi tried to push him away for a moment but stopped as the thief's warmth began to steal through his body. It took a short while, but eventually Satoshi's tremors quit and he leaned docile into the taller teen. Dark smiled and merely allowed the transformation to pass.

Daisuke blinked, surprised to be on the outside and in control of his body once more. _Dark? You and Satoshi-kun...?_

_**No, not him. **_Dark smiled in the back of his mind. _**Just an old friend of mine... **Rika... _He kept the last thought to himself and merely sighed.

The redhead found himself smiling and hugging his friend. Satoshi blinked and looked up. "Niwa-kun? When did you get back?" Then his eyes widened. "You're standing on your own! Does it hurt?"

"Nani? Oh." Daisuke looked dumbly down at his ankle. A small bit of pain radiated up his leg, but it was far from unbearable. "Hai, but only a little. Are you okay? Dark said..."

"I'm fine." Satoshi stood on his own and wrapped one arm around Daisuke's waist. "Lean on me anyway—I don't want to end up harming your ankle. We still need to find the road and get down from here."

"Satoshi, I don't need any help." Daisuke tried to pull away, but Satoshi let out an impatient huff and hauled the redhead up into his arms completely. "_Nani?!" _

"If you're not going to cooperate," Satoshi said conversationally as he cautiously picked his way down the slope, "we're going to have to do this the hard way. Here..." He shifted Daisuke around awkwardly until the redhead was perched on his back, arms around the commander's neck and legs around his waist. Satoshi shifted and held Daisuke higher up on his back, linked his hands beneath the younger boy's bottom, and kept walking.

"Satoshi!" Daisuke's face flamed. "I'm fine, really..."

"You're injured. I think if it was Dark-san, though," he added softly, apparently to himself, "we'd be out of his mess quicker."

Daisuke's heart fell and he laid his cheek against the back of Satoshi's head sadly. _He wishes I was you, _the redhead whispered to his other self in his mind. _I'm nothing but a burden to him._

_**That's not what he meant, **_Dark soothed. _**Besides, I wouldn't help him. There's something not quite right about him, something I can't put my finger on just yet... But it's there. I can feel it.**_

Daisuke sighed in response and retreated further into himself.

The rest of the climb down passed in silence. Satoshi walked along the side of the deserted road, careful of slick patches and walking in the dead grass whenever possible. Once they almost toppled from a rock face—the blunet tended to stay away from the sheer edges of the mountain after that. Daisuke's mind wandered and he dozed in and out for the two hours or so it took them to reach the base.

By the time they reached the bottom, Satoshi was simultaneously burning and freezing, tired, thirsty and hungry. His energy reserves were nearly gone. He hiked the redhead further up on his back and looked around. The road evened out and more of the ice was worn down, giving him a chance to walk on the level asphalt as opposed to the rutted frozen dirt and grass in the side. Daisuke slowly came out of his hazy nap, still half asleep, and yawned groggily.

"'S cold," he murmured, burying his face in the curve of Satoshi's neck.

"I know, Niwa-kun." Satoshi bumped him up again, gripping his hands together tightly under Daisuke's bottom to support him. "It'll be all right."

"Satoshi-kun?"

"Nani?" The blunet concentrated on the road at his feet, looking for slick spots.

"_Daisuki._" Daisuke yawned once more, nuzzled Satoshi's ear affectionately, then dropped back into a peaceful slumber.

A fine tremor ran through Satoshi's body and he swallowed hard. _Dammit, Niwa-kun, stop trying my patience. There's only so much I can take... _Steeling his nerves and reserves, he pushed on.

_v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v_

It was well into the night by the time Satoshi staggered into the tiny town of Shubi. By now he was too cold to even shiver, and he was beginning to get a bit dizzy. The building furthest out happened to be one of the firehouses, and the blunet stumbled in without so much as knocking. In the front foyer a half dozen or so firefighters had been playing cards around a table set up in front of the hearth; all were on their feet as soon as the door opened. At the sudden rush of warmth from inside the building the strength in Satoshi's arms immediately left and he had to scrabble to keep from dropping the semi-conscious redhead on the floor. As it was one of the firemen barely had time to grab the injured boy before the detective was on his face on the floor.

_v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v_

"Boy? Boy, can you hear me? Hey, Tsukasa, I think he's coming around."

Satoshi groaned and tried to open his eyes. It felt as if his entire body were on fire; painful pins-and-needles ran up and down his arms and legs, danced along his spine, and drilled into his temples. He was burning and freezing at the same time.

"Here, kid."

A hot mug of liquid was forced into his hands and Satoshi stared at it dully. His mind was wandering about in a fog, trying dimly to put two and two together but failing miserably.

"Sip it, there's a good lad," the rough voice commanded. Numbly Satoshi put the rim of the mug to his lips and tilted the cup back.

Steaming broth poured between his cracked and chapped lips and down his throat. The blunet's sapphire eyes snapped open as he coughed and choked on the soup, nearly dropping the mug. The cup was rescued by a fireman with quick-reflexes, nary a drop spilling. Satoshi coughed to clear the fire in his throat, but amazingly the tap-dancing pinpricks ceased along his skin and his mind began to emerge from its hiding place in the fog.

All at once Satoshi was aware of his surroundings. He was in a set of dry clothing and even on top of that he was wrapped up tight in no less than ten thick comforters. For the most part he was lying down on a raised bed a little distance from the hearth, his shoulders propped up on a doubled-over pillow. Once the soup was taken away, however, the pillow was removed, unfolded, and placed beneath his head. Four burly men were hovering about him.

"Niwa-kun?" he rasped. "Where is Niwa-kun?" The tremors were coming back and he fought to keep his teeth from chattering. With a shaking hand he reached out for the mug of broth.

"Your friend? He's fine, resting in the cot in the other room. Kyuka and Aijou are with him." The fireman sat down on the edge of the bed. "My name's Tsukasa; this here's Shijin, Hayabusa, and Ashuri." He motioned to each of the men in turn. Tsukasa, a man of sturdy build and graying, thinning black hair and bright black eyes, helped Satoshi sip the broth. His gaze was intent, worried, as if Satoshi were his younger brother or son.

Shijin sat on the foot of the bed, watching Satoshi with a curious but respectful light in his eyes. He was the youngest of the four by far, and even at that he couldn't have been younger than twenty-seven. His hair was long and red-brown, braided down his back and tied with a white band. His eyes were a gentle green.

Hayabusa, a short, stocky man, stood moodily at the wall, staring at the blunet. He wore his black hair cropped short, about an inch from his head, giving him a military air. His black eyes were sharp and quick, never missing a beat. Beside him stood Ashuri, a... woman? Yes, she was a woman, white-blond hair cascading down her back. Satoshi didn't know why he'd mistaken her for a man before—must've been the black shapeless coveralls they all wore. Soft blue eyes smiled back at him with a quiet compassion.

Satoshi struggled to sit up, but Tsukasa pushed him back down on his back. "Rest. If you'll give us the number, we'll get in touch with somebody at home to come and get you. What were you doing up there, anyway?"

"Niwa-kun and I were separated from a school trip," Satoshi whispered between slow sips of broth.

"You're the two kids who went AWOL from that middle school?" Shijin stood, whistling softly beneath his breath. "You must be Hiwatari Satoshi, then." Satoshi nodded, and he continued, "You and Niwa Daisuke have been trapped up on that mountain this whole time?" Again Satoshi nodded.

"Son, it's been over a week since you two disappeared," Hayabusa bit out. "You couldn't have been up there that long and survived."

"It is possible, Haya-kun," Ashuri soothed. She pushed herself from the wall and began herding the men towards the door. "Let the boy rest." The blonde looked back over her shoulder and smiled at Satoshi. "We'll contact your school and parents—I'm sure they're terribly worried—and you'll be home in no time."

"Arigato, Ashuri-sama," Satoshi said quietly. She just smiled and closed the door.

_v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v_

After a short nap, two more mugs of the steaming broth and a quick bath, Satoshi was on his feet, albeit a bit unsteadily. The lady Ashuri helped him as he shakily made his way through the firehouse towards the room in which they kept Daisuke. She made him keep three of the blankets wrapped tight around his shoulders and clipped together in the front as they went, though, and hovered just behind him, holding onto his elbow to steady him.

Daisuke lay on his cot, scarlet locks spread out over the pillow like liquid fire. His crimson eyes were closed, lashes resting like dark fans on his cheeks. The boy's face was serene and calm, his breathing deep and steady. The quilting on his bed was pulled up and tucked beneath his chin tightly.

"_Kaji,"_ Satoshi said brokenly as he knelt down beside the bed. He rested his forehead on Daisuke's chest and held onto his friend's slender hand. "It's over, kaji, we're safe. Oh, Daisuke, please wake up." Tears threatened at his eyes. "There's something important I must tell you."

But Daisuke didn't wake up, didn't respond, didn't move. Satoshi bowed his head and blinked back his tears, but his voice trembled. "Niwa-kun, please. Daisuke? Wake up! Wake up..." He whirled back to stare at Ashuri, still clutching Daisuke's hand. "Why won't he wake up? What's wrong with him?"

"He's fine, Hiwatari-chan," she said, walking to him. "He's just very tired. He'll be all right after a bit of rest and time for his ankle to heal. It was a very nasty break, but it appears to have healed well while you were holed up in that cave."

"You're sure?" he demanded.

"Positive." She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Why don't you go back to bed? Your parents should be here soon."

"Okay." Defeated, he allowed her to lead him back to his room.

_v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v_

Within the hour the boys' parents arrived to pick them up. Satoshi wanted to say good bye to the redhead, but his father wouldn't allow it, packing up the blunet as soon as he arrived. Daisuke woke as his foster parents pulled in and demanded to see Satoshi, to know what was going on, but there seemed to be a conspiracy between the adults to keep the boys apart. And so the cold, long drives home were made in silence and lonesomeness, with only the cold comfort of the knowledge that eventually they would see one another again to keep the boys company. But would that comfort be enough?

_v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v_

_**Author's Notes**_

_Okay, that chapter sucked. .:Pokes it with a stick:. It sounded _way _too hokey to me. What do you think? Let me know, and I'll get the next chapter up ASAP! And for those of you that don't know, AWOL is a military term meaning "Absent Without Leave" (military personnel have to apply for leave, or vacation, before they can go anywhere. .:Ish an army-brat:.). I looked up hypothermia symptoms in at least seven different places, so I hope this chapter is believable! Next one will be coming soon, so keep an eye out._


	12. XII

_**Author's Notes** _

_It took me a while to start writing the next chapter to this story and I'm terribly sorry. Then I got stuck a few paragraphs into it, and then I got started on my Gundam Seed, my Yu-Gi-Oh and my other DNAngel fic (if you haven't already and you have the time, would you mind reading them as well? Please?) .:Sheepish smile:. I'm actually getting wrapped up in my school for once in my life—I have to stay after school almost every day for some meeting or another, and this month I have four newspaper stories to do, one of which is actually for the city paper and not just my humble little school. Not that I aspire to being a reporter, mind you… it was the only writing class I could take this year, since creative writing is only open to juniors and seniors. V.V Damn sophomores, anyway._

_Anyway, yeah. Hope you like this installment, and I'm trying to get into the habit of making the chapters longer, kyuu? Kayz! Here it is!_

_Oops, gotcha again. .:Sheepish laugh:. I forgot dedications. I haven't been able to talk to my twin very much lately—we haven't made our Saturday night call in, like, a month—and she can't get on during the weekdays, and yeah. I'm not even sure if she reads this story. .:Has to think about that:. But she does like DNAngel, I got her hooked on it. Anyway. I dedicate everything to Angel, so I think he'll kinda be annoyed if I do another one… erm… so instead of dedicating this to one person in particular, I'd like to dedicate it to all you readers!!! .:Passes out dedication chocolates and homemade DNAngel plushies:. PARTY!!_

_.:Sits on the sidelines with her Angel plushie and watches all the dedicatees have fun:. .:Clutches the plushie with and stares with wide eyes:. .:supersigh:. .:pulls her laptop over and pulls up the Microsoft word program:. .:Starts typing Author's Notes:. "It took me awhile… to start… writing…" .:mumbles as she types:._

_v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v_

_AHA!!! TWENTY REVIEWS FOR ONE CHAPTER!!! OOT! I LOVE YOU PEOPLE!! .:Goes around happy-huggling everything that moves:._

_(Duo) Erm, Zan-san? That just means you're that far behind in updating…_

_o.o o.O Thanks, Duo-kun. .:Starts to feel bad:. .:Pulls over her poor, dusty laptop:. .:Chokes on the dust while trying to open it:._

_(Duo and Nozomu) .:Sweatdrop:._

_Chapter… Which one am I on again?_

_(Nozomu) .:Smacks his forehead:._

_Oooh, Krad's song is playing! .:Turns up the speakers:. Wee!! .:Sways with the somewhat satanic music:._

_(Duo) .:Falls over:. Manuke!_

_(Nozomu) .:Sweatdrop:._

_v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v_

Daisuke sat dispassionately on the window seat in his room upstairs, watching the rain wash down the window. It hadn't stopped pouring since he arrived home three days ago and he hadn't been allowed out of his room since then. He sighed and turned his gaze from the window to his leg, stretched out before him with his foot resting on a stack of pillows. _I still can't believe they think I'm faking it, _he thought. _I mean, sure, I can _walk _on it, but only for a little bit, and then it really starts to _hurt.

Absently he picked at a plate of brownies Riku had dropped by that morning, picking out the chocolate chips and candy pieces and then mashing the brownie part together to form a solid mass he could suck on.

The redhead's family had grounded him for six weeks before he had even taken three hobbling steps through the door, on the grounds of his "running away."

**_You ran away? _**Dark questioned. **_Why? What did Daizu do?_**

_Daizu? Who is that?_

**_Your grandfather, you imbecile! _**the thief shouted.

Grandfather? I don't have one, Dark. I'm adopted.

**_That would probably explain why you don't know anything, _**he reasoned.

_Thanks, now I feel _so _much better. _He picked at a brownie with his fingernails and boredly stared at the water waving down the pane. _Why hasn't Satoshi-kun called, Dark?_

**_How the hell should I know? Maybe he thinks you're a baby, since… yeah._**

Daisuke shook his head wordlessly. _Hiwatari-kun would never think of me like that, _he told himself. _…Would he? No! Certainly not! _But now he wasn't quite as sure. It'd been three days already and not a word from the mysterious blunet. _To be fair, I haven't exactly gotten in touch with him, either. _But Daisuke's parents had taken his phone out of his room and disconnected his personal line, and since he was stuck permanently in his room, it couldn't exactly be helped.

There was a knock on his door, and Daisuke turned. "Come in."

His female guardian, Asari Ichi-san, opened the door a bit and leaned in. Her black hair spilled about her face, somewhat screening her cold black eyes. "Make sure you pack your things, Niwa. Tomorrow you're leaving."

"Leaving? Nani? _Doko_?"

But the woman was already closing the door behind her. The redhead sat there in a stupor-like trance, staring at the place where she had been only moments before. Leaving? They were sending him away? Where? Why? It didn't make any sense. _But what about Satoshi? I haven't gotten to speak with him!_

His eyes widened. _Hiwatari-kun! _

As quickly as he could hobble, Daisuke managed to get himself out of his room and downstairs to where Ichi-san and Aki-san, his adoptive father, were having tea in the living room. At the base of the stairs he stopped however, when he heard voices from the other room.

"We just can't control him anymore," Ichi-san complained. She was quiet for a moment, then spoke up again. "Well, we were hoping you could take him back."

_She must be on the phone. _Daisuke eased himself down into a sitting position on the bottom stair.

Aki-san's voice was next. "Give me that." Apparently Ichi-san gave him the phone, and he all but shouted, "Listen here, whatever-your-name-is. We can't control the brat, and so we're giving him back. If you won't take him, we'll leave him with the police! … All right… Mmhmm… Now, run that by me again?… Fine. We'll take care of it… _hai. Arigato_. Goodbye." There was a click, and the line was disconnected.

The soft sounds of fervent conversation reached Daisuke from around the corner. He leaned against the stair behind him and wondered what exactly was going on. _What was that phone call all about? _At that point he had more questions than answers. As he stood to go back to his room, he was reminded of his original quest, to obtain permission to call Satoshi-kun and talk to him, and once more he began to turn the corner into the living room. But Aki-san started speaking again.

"Moshi moshi. I need to speak to _Kouchou-sensei, onegai_…. Kouchou-sensei? Konbanwa. I need to speak to you about enrolling a student… Hai, I know it's late in the term… Hai… hai… Of course. He can start Saturday; we'll use the week up to then buying his clothing and supplies. Name? Niwa Daisuke. Age? … Ichi, how old is the boy? Fifteen? Fifteen, Kouchou-sensei. Eighth year. Hai. Hai. Arigato. Ja." There was a click, and the line was once more terminated.

_They're making me change schools? _Daisuke blinked and staggered his way back up the stairs. _Why? What did I do? They wouldn't punish me _that _badly for running away… _

Daisuke? What's going on? 

_I'm not sure, Dark. _The redhead sighed and closed the door behind him. He couldn't even remember climbing the stairs or making his way down the hall into his room. _And what was that first phone call all about?_

**_Sounded like they were trying to give you away._**

_You're _not _helping matters, Dark! _Daisuke bit, annoyed. Frustrated, he bit into a brownie, misjudged it, and ended up biting his tongue hard enough to draw blood. "_Ite-e!" _he winced and wiped a drop of blood from the corner of his mouth. _I still need to talk to Satoshi-kun. _Things were looking more and more hopeless by the moment.

_v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v_

Outside the full moon rose and set, but nobody saw. Satoshi sat outside on his balcony, letting the cool night air calm his nerves. Soulfully he looked up at the cloudy sky, willing the misty masses to disperse, but they paid him no heed and kept on building. The rain kept coming, covering the land with a fine mist.

The lethargic commander draped himself over the railing on his balcony and stared off into the distance, uncaring of the water slowly soaking into his clothing. _Niwa-kun's home is somewhere out there, _he thought despondently. _Why hasn't he called me yet?_

**_Maybe he thinks you're an overbearing brat, _**came the insidious voice in the back of his mind. He ignored it. The voice had become increasingly in attendance in the blunet's mind, more and more persistent in trying to compel the boy to do things, think certain ways.

_Niwa-kun would never think that of me._

_**Then why hasn't he called?** _

_He was hurt…_ But the excuse sounded lame, even to Satoshi.

**And he was walking just fine when you two parted ways. Face it, it's been three days—if he cared, he would've called or gotten in touch with you somehow.**

_But he said…_

**_He lied. In fact, you did, too. Why haven't _****you _called _him?**

_I don't know… _Satoshi shook his head. It was one thing to talk to oneself occasionally, but to stand there and argue with himself. "I'm not crazy, I'm _not _crazy," he repeated softly to himself, over and over.

Far off in the depths of the city, a clock struck two.

**_Are you sure…?_**

Dong… dong…

"_Shut up!" _Desperate to make the sinister voice stop, Satoshi covered his ears and curled up around his stomach, balancing on his toes and resting his forehead on the balustrade. There was a mocking laugh, but it faded and echoed as it did. Tentatively he relaxed his fingers from his ears.

A soft, chiming ring distinguished itself from the usual nighttime sounds. Satoshi slowly straightened and peered around, then realized the sound was the ringing of his cell phone. As if all hell was on his heels, the blunet sprinted across the balcony and the width of his room to where he'd left the phone on his bed, still plugged into the charger. He dove onto the mattress and rolled over the edge, snatching up the phone as he went.

"Moshi moshi?" He hadn't even stopped to check and see who it was that was calling him.

"Satoshi?"

The voice on the other end of the line was hushed and harsh, yet unmistakable all the same. "Niwa-kun." Satoshi smiled and slumped against the side of his bed, suddenly exhausted. "I… missed you." It was strange to say the words, but he had to say them.

"I was afraid I wouldn't be able to see you again before—" Suddenly he was silent.

"Before? Before what? Niwa-kun? Niwa-kun!"

The phone began beeping in his ear. The line had been terminated. Satoshi sat there and stared at the compact telephone in his hand, blinking. An uneasy feeling began to gnaw its way into the pit of his stomach.

_v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v_

**_Author's Notes_**

_I'm _really _sorry this chapter is so short!! I've been trying to get this chapter written forever, but it takes so long because it's kinda boring to write dialogue. .:Whine, whine:._

_(Duo) Poor girl. .:Patpat:. .:Goes to make her dinner:. Get started on chapter thirteen._

_O.O WHAT!?_

_(Nozomu) .:Takes away her laptop:. Nyah._

_Anyway, I have a pre-ACT test to take tomorrow, so wish me luck. If it goes well, I may be inspired to write more, ya never know. o.- Bai all! Please review!_


	13. XIII

**_Author's Notes_**

_Sorry for the shortness of the last chapter. Really, I am. Hopefully this chapter will be longer; there's going to be a lot in here. Things that go on in the two parts of this chapter (you'll get what I mean when you read it) happen at the same time, just in two different places. Kay? On to lucky chapter thirteen!_

_Oh. Someone mentioned in their review that I said in chapter twelve Daisuke was fifteen, while in chapter one it was stated that he was sixteen. The only thing I can say to that (besides having been half asleep when I typed both those chapters) is that the Asaris don't like Daisuke, much less really care how old he is. It's like on the movie Matilda—everyone thinks she's a different age._

_(Duo and Nozomu) .:Mutter about the fact that there's not a lemon in this chapter and sip their cocoa:._

_Oh, I got new dividers (hee! .:happy cheer:.) So now the v-v- thing signifies divisions within the scenes, like the passage of time, while the bunnies signify complete change of scene. Ready? On we go!_

( ) ( )  
(o.o)  
(uu)

"_We are sorry. The number you have dialed has been disconnected—"_ Satoshi clicked the phone off. He stared at the tiny machine and wondered what had happened. _I was just talking to Niwa-kun, _he thought, _and then I wasn't. I hope he's all right. _

It was a week after the midnight phone call. Satoshi hadn't been at school, having come down with a serious case of pneumonia. When he'd gone back to school that morning, Daisuke wasn't anywhere to be found, and nobody seemed willing to answer his questions. Riku and Risa Harada sat together in their corner and talked, casting dirty glances at Satoshi whenever they thought he wasn't looking. The teachers seemed unusually quiet.

Now Satoshi sat in his black stretch limousine outside the Asari residence. The clocks were striking noon, and it was a fine Sunday afternoon. The driver came around and opened the door, and Satoshi got out of the car and straightened. He pulled a pair of sunglasses on and looked up and down the street once before going up to the door. A strange, painful knot of anxiety and excitement welled in his stomach. He knocked on the door.

A short woman, probably in her late thirties, answered the door, black hair pulled up into a knot on the top of her head. She blinked curiously up at Satoshi. "Can I help you?"

"Mrs. Asari-san?" he asked. She nodded, and he continued. "My name is Hiwatari Satoshi, and I'm here to see Niwa Daisuke-kun. Is he home?"

The woman's eyes narrowed somewhat and hardened. "Niwa Daisuke? There's nobody by that name here. Never has been. Good day, Hiwatari-san." She shut the door in his face with a cutting finality.

Satoshi leaned back on one foot, confused. The police database as well as the adoption agency had told him Daisuke was living here, and yet the woman said... _Something's not quite right. I'm going to find out what it is. _

_v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v_

The blunet stood in the head principal's office, going through the student records. The principal hovered in the background anxiously, wringing her hands. Satoshi was the police commander, true, but was she legally allowed to give him access to the students' records? Satoshi didn't care. As he had half-expected, there were no papers for Niwa Daisuke.

He closed the filing cabinet, thanked and apologized to the principal, and began the trip back to his class. _If he's not here, then he moved. But why?_

_**He wanted to get away from you, obviously. **_

_Shut up. _Over the week, Satoshi had become accustomed to arguing with this other self within him. The voice never quit, and was always present in the back of his mind.

_**I'm bored. You're no fun.**_

_Terribly sorry that my life isn't more entertaining, _the blunet snapped mentally as he stepped into the empty room. This was his physical education period, and the class was in the gym at the pool.

_**What do you say I help you make things a bit more interesting?**_

_Sure, whatever. _By now he'd quit paying the voice any attention and concentrated instead on remembering what homework he'd been assigned but hadn't done.

The voice in his mind suddenly became more, a _being_. Then suddenly a burning began in his stomach, spreading to the rest of his body. Satoshi bent over his middle and leaned heavily on the desk's surface. "_Nani?" _he gasped. His whole body began to shake, and a cold sweat broke out over his skin. His flesh began to itch and burn.

His eyes flashed from blue to gold and back again to settle instead on a glimmering blue-gold. His body began to grow and stretch, the bones snapping and reshaping painfully. His scalp felt as if it were on fire as his hair shot out to hang low to his hips. Slowly the colour faded from a blue to a golden colour.

Finally the pain began to ease and the itching quit. The boy straightened up and tossed his shoulders back. A sound akin to the party-favour noisemakers was heard as his spine rippled, snapping itself into alignment all the way from the base of his skull to his tailbone, and a heartfelt sigh of relief escaped his lips.

When he opened his eyes, they were a bright golden colour.

**_Here I come, Dark..._**

( ) ( )  
(o.o)  
(uu)

Throughout the next week, Daisuke was shoved from shop to shop, forced into and out of numerous styles of clothing. Oddly his foster parents didn't seem too worried about his missing school. They bought him all new casual clothing, jeans and tshirts, jackets and sweaters. Ichi-san even went to far as to cut his hair.

Friday night he fell exhausted across his bed. The new clothing lay scattered around the room, some of it folded and put away, the rest left to wait where it fell. His ankle was healed for the most part, but was twinging somewhat now since he'd been overusing it. Midnight moonlight fell across his room, reflecting in the mirror.

_Mirrors. I don't want to look in any mirrors, _he thought miserably.

**_It's just a little trim, Dai-kun, _**Dark scoffed. **_It'll grow back._**

_Yes, but what will Satoshi-kun think of it until it does? _Thoughts of the blunet had been playing through his mind ever since he'd made that disastrous phone call. Aki-kun had caught him using the phone when he was grounded from it and had not only terminated the line, but had even thrown the phone at Daisuke. Luckily Aki-kun was so angry he couldn't see straight and missed by a mile. Still, Daisuke had to hasten to his room accompanied by shouted curses in many languages he couldn't even begin to identify before Aki-kun somehow gained reinforcements.

_Why doesn't he want me seeing Satoshi-kun? _Daisuke wondered.

**_Maybe he thinks you were...otherwise busy...up in that cave rather than escape._**

Dark! Daisuke's cheeks turned as red as his hair and he buried his face in his pillow. Still, a warm feeling began to worm its way through his body when he thought of being "otherwise busy" with Hiwatari Satoshi.

**_Watch it, or you'll transform, _**Dark cautioned. **_I don't know how I'd explain it to the Asaris if they came up for their hourly check and found me instead of you. I really would rather not go to prison, if it's all the same._**

Daisuke sighed and burrowed further into his bed. _Hai, but... why hasn't Satoshi-kun come to see me? I mean, he must've figured something was wrong when I stopped coming to school. Even if Aki-kun disconnected the phone line, he would've visited, wouldn't he? He cares about me, doesn't he?_

Dark said nothing. The redhead sighed again and tried to let sleep wash over him.

Just was the waves of slumber began to lap at his feet, the lights were suddenly clicked on. Daisuke winced and tried to cover his eyes. "Whazza matta?" he slurred.

"Get up and start packing. You're leaving in the morning." Aki-kun slammed the door closed as he left.

"That again?" he mumbled as he sat up and rubbed at his eyes. "Why would they buy me all new clothes if I was leaving?" _They must be lying. _That decided, he tossed a slipper at the lamp. The light source fell over and the bulb shattered, immersing the room in darkness once more. Daisuke sighed contentedly and sank back into bliss.

_v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v_

The next morning Daisuke was rudely awakened, shoved into clean clothing, and then rushed downstairs. He wasn't given breakfast or a chance to clean himself up. Before he was really aware of what was going on, the car door slammed shut and the automobile pulled away from the curb. He had been shoved into a limo, with no contact with other people available.

In the two hours it took for the car to finally pull to a stop, Daisuke had plenty of time to wake himself up and figure out what was going on. _They _did _mean it this time... But... Why?_

**_Dai-kun? What's going on?_**

_I don't know, Dark. I'm confused. _Daisuke looked out the window, but didn't recognize anything. His suitcases were scattered on the seat around him, a few articles of clothing halfway out of them. Apparently Aki-kun and Ichi-san weren't very concerned with the condition of his clothes.

_**Are you hurt?**_

_No, I'm fine... Just confused. _They fell silent as the car rolled into a small town in the middle of nowhere. The driver of the car wound his way through the streets in a maze-like series of twists and turns. Daisuke gave up in trying to remember where to turn on which streets and instead sat moodily back and sulked in the backseat. _They're not taking me to the orphanage; I know the neighborhood around there by heart. So... Where _are _they taking me?_

The limo began to slow and stopped in front of a tall redbrick building. Daisuke peered at the cement sign beside the front entrance.

_Danshikou Correctional Facility._

( ) ( )  
(o.o)  
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**_Author's Notes_**

_.:muttermutter:. Dumbarse school. I can't update from school because the computers are on a different format and won't read my disks. Of course, I could always save the documents from the disk onto the hard drive, and then just delete it when I'm done.... .:plotplot:. Anyway. Sorry the end of this chapter sucks. I was writing it this morning at school, and so it's kinda rushed. _Very _kinda rushed. So, once more, sorry! .:Bowbow:._


	14. XIV

_**Author's Notes**_

_In case you didn't know," Danshikou" translates to "boy's high school." So they sent Dai-kun to a boy's high school/correctional facility. Hai. '-' Mean, hai; cruel, hai; important to the plot, _hai. _.:Nodnod:. And so, on to chapter fourteen!_

( ) ( )  
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_Tick, tock. Tick, tock. _Slowly the clock hands wound their way around the moon-shaped face until they pointed at the twelve and three. Daisuke sighed and beat his forehead on his desk. _Three o'clock. Time for the damn support meetings. You know, Dark, if it weren't for you, I think I'd go crazy._

**_Hai, but just make sure you don't speak aloud—otherwise they _will _think you've gone crazy. _**

_You don't have to remind me. _Daisuke stood and gathered up his notebook, being sure to leave the history textbook on the desk. At his new school each teacher taught the same class every hour, and so there was only one set of textbooks. And since the students all were forced to live on campus, there wasn't a real need for the students to have their own copies.

Down the hall he walked. If it wasn't bad enough that the school wouldn't let him wear his own clothes, the new uniforms were all a bright melon-pink colour, short-sleeved and puffy-panted. For shoes they were all given soft-soled slippers. Daisuke was forced to wear his hair pulled back in a ponytail—and it was barely long enough to do that, since he'd gotten it trimmed before he'd been abandoned at this hell-hole of a school. There were bars on all the windows, and the panes in said windows and the doors were all made of shatterproof Plexiglas.

At the third door on the left he turned and slipped into the room. The chamber was well-lit, but not with halogen white lights; rather, the lighting was soft and in blue and violet hues. A charming and soothing aroma was circulated around the room by strategically placed incense and candles, but it was not so overbearing as to choke off the air. There weren't any desks, but instead uncomfortable chairs and sofas scattered here and there around a few low coffee tables.

Daisuke wasn't the first one to arrive—he never was. Lounging in his usual place on top of a table in the corner was Nishii Kazumi. Kazumi had bright blue eyes similar to Satoshi-kun, Daisuke had noted on the first day, but Kazumi's eyes lacked the vibrant life Satoshi's possessed. Kazumi's eyes were matte, cold and hard. He wore his black hair long and refused to wear it in the mandatory ponytail. His dark hair and fair eyes and complexion only served to increase the air of mystery and danger about him. Kazumi wasn't overly tall, but he was slender, quick and strong. He also liked to play punching bag with the new boy—namely, Daisuke.

Kazumi was always careful not to leave any marks on Daisuke's skin where they would show—the redhead's stomach, legs, and back were all a myriad of bruises, cuts, and other damages. And Daisuke had only been there three days.

Kazumi never wore the uniform—instead he lounged in his pink pants and a white tshirt. He seemed at ease wherever he was and with whomever. The teachers all loved him and could see him do no wrong. Kazumi had been at Danshikou for the past four years, and in that time, he'd nearly killed three boys with his "affection" and "concern" for their naïveté of the ways of the school. And still he was an angel in the eyes of the teachers.

_Demons lurk in the skins of angels, _Daisuke thought bitterly. And it was just his luck that Tetsuo Koji had history today instead of group therapy. Which meant there was nowhere for Daisuke to hide until the sensei showed up with the rest of the class. Kazumi didn't like to beat up his latest toys in front of anyone not in his closest circle, and Koji was Daisuke's only friend at he institution.

"Well, well, well, Niwa." Kazumi lazily pushed himself up and stared indolently at the redhead. There was some sick sort of adoration in his eyes. "Have I told you lately that you're absolutely beautiful?"

Daisuke tried to ignore him. The beating always began that way, with Kazumi complimenting him on his face and body.

**_Dai-kun, stay calm. _**Dark stayed with him in his mind, what little comfort that was.

"Fuck off, Nishii," Daisuke spat as he settled himself on the couch furthest from the other boy. He was tired of this game.

"Now, now, that's not very nice." Kazumi stood and sauntered over to the redhead. He placed his hands on the arms of the chair and leaned forward until his face was mere inches from the younger boy's. "And didn't I tell you to start calling me 'Kazumi'? Eh, _Daisuke?_"

"Niwa," Daisuke bit clearly. "Ni-wa. Not Daisuke—at least, not to you. I don't want you to."

"You will, eventually."

"Don't hold your breath."

"Fine," he breathed against Daisuke's cheek. "I'll hold yours." He leaned in close and pressed his lips against the redhead's. He tried to pull away, but there was nowhere to go. Kazumi knew this and so he pressed closer. His hands rested on Daisuke's waist, pressing brutally into the abused and sore skin. Daisuke cried out at the sudden flash of pain, but it only seemed to spur the other boy on. When Kazumi boldly thrust his tongue into Daisuke's mouth, however, the younger boy retaliated. He bit the other's tongue. Hard. Until he tasted bittersweet coppery blood.

Kazumi cursed and pulled back, wiping a dribble of the red liquid from his chin with the back of his hand. Anger flashed into his eyes and fear began to climb up the back of Daisuke's throat when suddenly the door slammed open. In flowed a small stream of a half-dozen boys all dressed in uniform pink, followed by a taller man clothed in the faculty's deep blue.

Ebai Sensei cast his eyes over the two across the room uninterestedly. "Niwa, restrain yourself and quit bothering Kazumi-kun. He didn't do anything to you. All you've done since you arrived here three days ago is torment the poor boy and make up lies. I'm telling you now it will all stop."

"But Sensei—!"

"_Tojikomeru_!" Ebai Sensei's eyes flashed a dark, menacing black as he settled himself regally into an armchair. "Now, let the meeting begin."

Daisuke sighed and slumped back in his chair. Kazumi smirked at him from across the room behind the teacher and blew a kiss. The redhead shuddered.

_v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v_

If the Danshikou Correctional Facility had one redeeming quality it was that they served actual food to the inmates—I mean, students. Daisuke sat moodily in the corner of the courtyard and poked at his beef stew with a plastic spoon. It was nighttime, dinnertime, and the boys were scattered around the large dining hall and the fenced outdoors courtyard, talking amongst themselves to just to themselves. Daisuke was trying to keep from site, away from where Kazumi might see him. He sipped his chocolate milk.

"Daisuke-kun? I heard you got into some trouble earlier."

From the darkness Koji materialized. Koji was on the slender and sickly side, with pale and sallow skin. Golden blonde hair hung in a somewhat limp braid down his back. His eyes were a large chocolate brown, a mirror to his every thought and emotion. He'd been Kazumi's victim before Daisuke and as such understood what the redhead was going through. The two had become fast friends as soon as Daisuke had arrived.

Daisuke looked up and motioned for Koji to sit down beside him. "Nothing more than usual, I guess."

"Kazumi again?"

"Hai." Daisuke sipped his broth quietly. "He... this time it was different."

"I heard him talking with Nakamura Minoru and Suzuki Toshiya earlier. Tonight he's planning on sneaking into our room. He's going to tell the nurse I wasn't feeling well and get them to make me stay in the Infirmary tonight." Koji picked at his role.

**_Why doesn't he stand up to Kazumi? _**Dark asked Daisuke softly.

_He's frightened. _I'm _frightened, Dark._

_**I wish I were there to protect you.**_

_I'll be fine._ He only wished he could be so sure. Still, he pushed the uncertainty aside. "So what's your plan, Koji-kun?"

Koji was still new to thinking for himself and was shy when it came to discussing any of his thoughts, even to Daisuke. Still, he was making progress. "I... I was thinking I could sneak out of the Infirmary right after light's out. They'll have moved my cot from our room for one of the _kouhai _to use, so maybe I could... with you..." He broke off, touching the tips of his fingertips together. He stared at his hands.

"Sleep in the cot with me?" Daisuke clarified.

The blonde nodded. "Kazumi will stay away from you, and me. We'll both be safe."

"I think that's a good idea." Daisuke smiled encouragingly at Koji. "You're very smart."

The blonde flushed and continued picking his role into tiny pieces. "Thank you," he mumbled.

_v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v_

"Koji-kun?"

"Nani?"

It was a little past midnight, and the two boys were lying together in the cot, waiting for Kazumi to make his move. Koji and Daisuke shared the tiny closet-sized dorm room. There was only enough space in the chamber for both their cots, nothing more. There weren't any windows on the walls, and because of that, there was almost no light in the room. Koji was shy and still half afraid to sleep on his own, and so he curled up against the other boy with his head resting on Daisuke's chest. Daisuke didn't mind—he felt oddly protective of the younger boy.

"How long had Kazumi been...with... you before I got here?"

"Ever since I got here... that was...four years ago." He snuggled closer to Daisuke under the blankets.

"Why were you sent here?"

There was a small silence in the room while Koji considered his answer. Finally he asked, "Do you want the honest truth?"

"Hai."

"I... I killed somebody."

Daisuke stilled, his arms still locked around the smaller boy. "Na...ni?"

Tears choked the smaller boy's throat and voice when he spoke again. "I didn't mean to, Daisuke-kun, you have to believe me. They... did horrible things... expected me to... every night... with others... and... she _hurt _me... I couldn't take it... Daisuke-kun," he whimpered.

"Shh..." The redhead gathered the other boy close to him and stroked his hair. "It'll be all right. I don't hate you. You're fine and safe here with me."

Koji sniffled and tried to relax a little. "Why are you here?" he hiccupped.

"Well... I'm not sure," Daisuke said after a moment. "I'm an orphan, and I guess my family didn't want me anymore. The orphanage wouldn't take me back, so they put me here instead."

"I'm sorry."

"Me too." He hugged Koji lightly. "Me, too."

( ) ( )  
(o.o)  
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**_Author's Note_**

_Sorry it's so short and it kinda sucks... I was in a kinda angsty mood. But that's okay, this goes along with the story. .:nodnod:. I'm satisfied with how this turned out, actually. I love poor Koji-kun... Review, please!!!_


	15. XV

**_Author's Note_**

_No, **Bryjin**-san, and everyone else who was wondering, this is _not _turning into a Daisuke/Koji fic! .:Giggles:. Though I can see where you'd think that... but no. Satoshi was only out of the picture for one chapter and already people are thinking I dropped him completely or killed him off. I couldn't do that to Sato-kun, he's my favourite character in the entire series! .:Protective-huggle Satoshi-kun:._

_(Nozomu) .:Rolls his eyes:. Baka. .:Affectionately:._

_Haaaai! .:grins:._

_(Duo) o.o;; That's not something you own up to, Zan-san._

_.:Shrugs and gets on with chapter fifteen:._

( ) ( )  
(o.o)  
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Daisuke stood in the hall, hands clasped in front of him. Today he wasn't dressed in the usual melon uniform—it felt odd and yet refreshing to be clad in blue jeans and a simple black tshirt. His ruby locks had been let go to lay as they wished, but there was still a small crease in them from wearing his hair in a ponytail for the past five days straight.

He was waiting outside the Infirmary for Koji. _I can't believe we get to leave campus! _Daisuke babbled happily to Dark.

The thief sounded bored. **_It's only lunch, Dai-kun._**

_I know, but it'll feel so much better to be away from here for a while. I didn't know they let Koji-kun leave every other day._

**_It's only for a couple of hours, nothing to get your feathers ruffled over._**

_Still._

_**You're not the jealous type, Dai-kun. What brought this on?**_

_I guess I'm just tired of... well, everything. _

**_You'll feel better once you're away from that Kazumi. Relax, enjoy your lunch._**

The door beside Daisuke opened, and Koji walked out, followed by the doctor. The latter was handing the blonde a packet and reminding him to take the pills. Koji waved him off and looked around. His eyes lit up when he saw Daisuke waiting.

"Daisuke-kun! Nice outfit!"

Daisuke grinned. "You, too. It seems so odd to see you in anything but pink." Koji was dressed in a skin-tight smoky gray tank top, accenting his thin stature. His legs were encased in black jeans which tapered into running shoes. A baseball cap covered his golden locks, which had been let down to frame his face. Around his neck hung a small plastic rectangle, an ID tag. The ends of his hair brushed his shoulder tops. He looked almost normal.

Koji giggled a bit and flushed. "Yes, well, I'm used to it now. It was odd the first time I went out like this, too. I felt so conspicuous. Not anymore, though. Are you ready to go?"

"Hai." He nodded, and they began walking down the hallway. "Koji-kun, where are we going?"

The blonde shrugged. "A restaurant I found in town. It's small, privately owned, but the food is _excellent. _Better than what they serve here." As they walked, Koji casually hooked his arm through the crook of Daisuke's elbow.

It was oddly easy for them to walk off campus. The security guards never gave them a second glance. Daisuke moved a bit closer to Koji, unnerved. "Koji-kun? Why aren't they doing anything?"

"Nani? Oh. I don't even notice it anymore." Koji looked about curiously, then back to Daisuke. With his other hand he lifted the ID tag around his neck. "It's this. It means I can walk off campus whenever I want, and they can't stop me. It took a bit for them to get used to it, though."

"But how do they know it's really you?" Daisuke wanted to know. "I mean, anybody could just steal this from you and leave."

The blonde shook his head. "The pass is kept in the principal's office—but they all know my face, anyway. Don't worry about it. Hurry up, we don't want to get caught up in the lunchtime traffic."

_v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-v_

The restaurant was small, as promised; it was the ground floor of a two-story home. There were only a few tables scattered about. The lighting was somewhat dim and very cozy, accenting the smallness of the space and the pale lavender paint on the walls. Koji waved at the waitress who was ringing up another customer's lunch while he picked out a table for him and Daisuke to sit at.

He chose a diminutive round table by the window, allowing for a lovely view and excellent lighting without diminishing the charm of the restaurant. Daisuke's eyes went wide as he read through the menu. The restaurant served all his favourite foods, but the prices were fairly high.

"Um, Koji-kun," he whispered, "I'm not so sure we should eat here."

"Why not?" Koji blinked. "Is something wrong?"

"Everything's so expensive."

The blonde waved airily. "Don't worry about the prices. I eat here all the time. So just pick whatever you want, okay?" He blinked adorably at Daisuke. The redhead shifted a bit uncomfortably and looked back down at his menu.

The waitress brought them tea in charming little china cups and took down their orders. While they were waiting for the food to be made, the two boys alternated between talking quietly and staring out the window at the passersby.

After a small, comfortable silence, Koji placed his chin in his hand, his elbow propped up on the table. "You know, Daisuke-kun, today's Valentine's Day."

"Really? I'd forgotten. There aren't any girls at our school, so I guess we're both out of luck." Daisuke grinned at Koji. "At my old school, even if a boy didn't have a girlfriend, he always got chocolates."

"When I was younger," Koji said, "I lived in America for a few years. Valentine's Day is celebrated differently there, did you know?"

"No." Daisuke turned his full attention on Koji. Something felt odd. "How do they celebrate it?"

"Girls don't give boys chocolate—at least, not usually. Most often, the boys give the girls presents and chocolates, kinda like White's Day. But it can go both ways. Isn't that odd?"

"A little, I suppose." Daisuke wondered where this was going. But before he could ask, the waitress brought their food. Talking ceased as they ate in companionable silence.

The two were halfway through their dessert, cheesecake, when Koji cleared his throat. "Daisuke-kun?"

The redhead looked up. "Nani?"

"I told you about the American Valentine's Day, right?"

The redhead nodded slowly. "What about it? Is everything okay?"

"Oh, hai." He made an airy motion. "It's just... well, I figured I'd celebrate Valentine's Day the American way today, because there's somebody I'd like to show my affection to, and I'm not sure if I would on today or next month. And besides that, I don't know if I'll be here for White's Day."

"Are you going home, Koji-kun?" Daisuke smiled. "That's great!"

"No! No, Daisuke-kun, I'm not going home, and it's not great." Koji stabbed at his cheesecake with his fork, staring at the food intensely. When he spoke again, his voice was very soft, too quiet. "Daisuke-kun, I... I'm dying."

"Nani? You're joking? Koji-kun, that's not funny."

"I'm telling the truth, Daisuke-kun!" He looked up, and his eyes were full of tears. "I—well, you know I'm sick, and... It's been getting worse. The pills the doctor gave me today were very powerful painkillers and sedatives. That's all they can give me now. I might not be here to tell the person, you see?"

Daisuke bit his lip. "There must be _something _we can do, Koji-kun. Take you to another doctor, get a second opinion, _something—_"

He shook his head. "My father's a doctor—he couldn't help me, either. I've already come to terms with it—I'm going to die before the summer." When he looked up again, his eyes were sadly bright. "But see, I'm not going to let that stop me."

"Who do you need to see? I'll do what I can," Daisuke promised.

"Well, I have these chocolates I'd like you to deliver, if you could." He motioned to the waitress, and she brought over a brightly coloured heart-shaped box. "I had this shipped over from Italy. The chocolates are gourmet, handmade." He handed the box to Daisuke over the table.

"Who would you like me to give them to?" Daisuke's throat and heart hurt. _I can't believe he's _dying, _Dark, _he thought sadly.

**_There's nothing we can do about it, Dai-kun, _**Dark answered softly.

Koji smiled sadly at Daisuke from across the table. "He's older than me, if that's any help. He has red hair and eyes, and he's very sweet. You see him every day—his name is Niwa Daisuke. Do you think you can give them to him?"

Daisuke's throat dried and his heart ached. "Koji-kun..."

The blonde shook his head, cutting Daisuke off. "Just make sure you don't tell him who they're from. He's a close friend of mine, and I know he likes another, and I respect that this other comes before me. I just want Niwa Daisuke to know that he is loved and cherished by those around him." Silent tears slipped down Koji's cheeks, and he laughed self-consciously. "See, he gets me all choked up." His voice was unsteady and wobbly as he said this, and he wiped at the tears. "Can you do this for me?"

The redhead nodded silently, his vision blurring beneath the tears. He stood and Koji followed suit. When the blonde began to say something else, however, Daisuke gathered him into a hard hug.

"You are very special to me, Koji-kun," he said softly to the blonde in his arms. "Really, you are. You mean a lot to me."

"But I'm not Hiwatari-kun," Koji finished for him forlornly. Daisuke nodded sadly. Koji hugged him back. "That's all right. Now that I told you how I felt, I'll be all right." He pulled back and wiped at his eyes, laughing embarrassedly. "See, now I'm crying like a girl."

Daisuke rubbed at his own eyes. "It seems to be a fad."

Koji looked up at smiled, a genuine smile. "Happy Valentine's Day."

"Happy Valentine's Day."

Without another word, they left the restaurant and headed back towards the school.

( ) ( )  
(o.o)  
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As the two walked back into the compound, arm in arm and talking softly, Nishii Kazumi leaned on the banister lining the inside of the first floor. He stared down at his two boy-toys, and a cold hatred burned in his eyes. _I'll fix them, _he thought to himself and melted into the shadows.

( ) ( )  
(o.o)  
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**_Author's Notes_**

_Once more, this is _not _a Daisuke/Koji fic!! .:Sniff, wipes her eyes:. I can't believe I'm killing him... but it has to be done. _

_(Nozomu) .:Clutches a Koji plushie, bawling:._

_.:blinks:. Nozomu is very attached to Koji-kun... Anyway, this is still a Satoshi/Daisuke fic, I promise. Satoshi will be back soon. He's...erm...Visiting America! Yeah! That's it! So keep an eye out--you might see him walking down the street one day! .:sweatdrop:. _

_This chapter was short, yes, and I'm sorry. Apparently I'm not very good at making long chapters... Gomen nasai!!! _

_Does anybody know what town Daisuke and Satoshi are from? Just wondering..._

_By the way, does _anybody _know where I can get Gravitation music?! I _really _want the song "Blind Game Again." _


	16. XVI

**_Author's Notes_**

_Argh! .:Frustrated major:. .:slams the keyboard against the wall:. This plot has just about died. I know what I want to happen, it's just getting from point A to point B that's killing me. So, let's try again. Chapter sixteen, take forty-nine. _

_I am _so _sorry it's taken me so long to update, really I am!!! I've been wanting to update, but I didn't want to write this chapter. It makes me sad. .:cries:. But I hope you like it. I worked really hard on it and even skipped watching Kenshin tonight. It's also somewhat longer than my other chapters, but unfortunately not by much. V.v _

* * *

After they came home from lunch that day, Daisuke was informed that he and Koji had been moved to a larger room, one with a window and somewhat more space. He was also told about a school-wide art competition/exhibition to be held the next week. 

The art exhibition was now only two days away, and Daisuke still didn't have any ideas for a piece of artwork to submit. He sat in his room, staring at the canvas on the easel set up in the corner in front of the window.

"Dai-kun?" Koji spoke up weakly from his cot across the room. He was resting, as per doctor's orders. "What are you thinking?"

Daisuke sighed and fell back against his own cot. "I'm trying to figure out what to draw for the exhibit. Any suggestions?" He arched his back until the top of his head was flat against the cot and he was grinning at his friend from upside down.

Koji studied the canvas from where he lay sideways on his cot. "Well," he said slowly after a moment, "the canvas is about the size for a portrait; why not do one of Hiwatari-sama? I've never seen him—you've just described him too me." He smiled. "I'd like to see the boy who's already captured my love's heart."

The redhead looked at the canvas again. "You think so? I think that will work." He smiled softly. "I really like that idea. Arigato, Koji-kun."

The younger boy smiled and fell back on his cot. A deep crease formed between his brows as a low moan escaped this throat. Daisuke was at his side in an instant and held his hand tightly. "Koji? Koji!"

Koji's grip tightened to nearly bone-crushing on Daisuke's delicate fingers, but the redhead didn't even wince. "It hurts," Koji ground out. "Gods, Daisuke, it _hurts."_

"It'll get better," Daisuke promised blindly, stroking the suddenly sweaty bangs from the blonde's forehead. "Wait it out; breathe deep, in and out."

These "attacks" as they called them were becoming more and more frequent, nearly twice a day now. Daisuke didn't like that Koji had them at all, let alone so often. He felt so useless, helpless…

Finally Koji's grip relaxed and his body loosened. He fell back against the cushions, pale as the pillow on the cot, as the snow falling outside. His breath was too fast, thin and raspy, his body heavy and limp. Daisuke continued to gently stroke his hair and cheeks.

"If this… goes on… much… longer," Koji panted after a moment, his voice the soft echo of a whisper, "I think I'll… end it all… myself."

"Don't talk like that, Koji," Daisuke snapped. "You'll get better."

"Dai-kun… I'm just so… tired…" his voice trailed off, and his eyes slid closed. His head fell back against the pillows, blonde hair spreading over the white cloth like a deadly halo.

The redhead sat there on his knees by the cot, head bowed over his friend's body. There were tears in his eyes, slowly trickling down his cheeks. Absently he continued to stroke the young boy's face and hair. "Of course you're tired," he whispered, deliberately misunderstanding. "They put you on sleep aids."

_**Daisuke…**_

"There's one thing I _can _do for you, Koji-kun," Daisuke whispered. "I can paint the picture."

* * *

Tiny slivers of charcoal whispered to the floor, falling from the razor edge of the craft knife as Daisuke sharpened the end of a coal stick. He was working on a sketch of the portrait of Hiwatari Satoshi he would paint soon, for Koji and for the exhibit. The rough outline was drawn on the paper, and the shading came next. 

Koji was sleeping peacefully in the corner on his cot. Clutched to his chest he held a small stuffed bear Daisuke had bought during their short shopping trip that afternoon. Smiling, the redhead placed the knife and coal on the easel tray alongside a small clump of stale bread he used for an eraser and stood. Tiptoeing over to the cot, he knelt down beside the sleeping boy and pressed a gentle kiss to Koji's forehead.

The blonde stirred softly and opened his eyes a crack. "Dai-kun?"

Daisuke smiled. "I'm going to the cafeteria, would you like anything? You need to take something with your medicine in a moment."

"Did you just kiss me?" A pale flush crept up his cheeks.

"I was checking your temperature," Daisuke explained with a gentle laugh. "That's how my mother always checked mine when I was younger." _That's how Satoshi-kun would check it in the cave… _But he kept the last thought for himself alone. "You're running a small fever, but it's not too bad."

"Gee, thanks," Koji laughed dryly, then snuggled back under the blankets. "Peach juice?"

"Okay." Daisuke giggled softly and pushed himself up. "I'll be back." He slid from the door.

The air in the hall was cold, and Daisuke wrapped his arms around himself. Though the school provided winter clothing, it wasn't very warm. He'd been in the school for nearly two weeks now, and winter was tightening its icy grip on the area, freezing them all in three feet of snow.

Outside the snow fell.

Inside it was warmer, but not by much. The system was under-financed, and unnecessary utilities such as heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer in the dorms were trimmed from the budgets.

Padding down the hall in his thin slippers, Daisuke's mind was absorbed with thoughts of the pale blonde in their room, and a certain blunet. It'd been nearly a month since he'd heard Satoshi's voice. A deep, painful ache throbbed in his heart.

_Oh, Satoshi-kun, _he thought achingly. _Why didn't I tell you how I felt when I had the chance? I love you…_

_**So call him and tell him.**_

_I can't do that, Dark-san! _Daisuke protested. _If I do, I might transform. I can't do that here!_

**_Coward. _**He faded away in disgust.

"_Coward,_" Daisuke mocked, scrunching his nose and mimicking the thief's voice. "Let's see _you _try calling someone you love…" Muttering darkly, he turned the corner into the kitchen.

On the way back to his room, armed with two cans of peach juice and plates of chocolate cake, Daisuke felt the hairs on the nape of his neck rise. Stopping cold, he turned around on his toes with the agility inborn of a natural host of a legendary thief, but saw no one. _It must be the cold, _he thought as he felt the draft in the corridor lift his hair from his neck. He hurried back down the hall towards his shared room.

Kazumi leaned out from the doorway he was hiding in. _Damn, that was close, _he thought to himself and grinned. _One way or the other, he _will _be mine tonight._

* * *

"Koji-kun," Daisuke called, "time for your medication! Where are you?" The cot in the corner was empty. 

"I'll be out in a moment, Dai-kun," Koji called from their bathroom.

"Okay." Daisuke set the pill bottle and can of peach juice on the bed frame and flopped down on his own bed. He pulled the sketch pad over to him on the floor and flipped through the pages. Pictures, mostly from his dreams, covered the pages. A tiny white, rabbit-like creature with big claret eyes. Snowy windmills and waterfalls. A winding staircase leading to the depths of the fall. And finally, a complex web of blood. He'd shown a few of the pieces to Koji-kun a while back, but had kept the last to himself. There was something personal about the web.

Humming the words to a popular love song under his breath, Daisuke traced the lines of the web with his fingertip. They wove and entwined, entangled until they became one with no end and no beginning.

A heavy weight fell on his back, but Daisuke wasn't concerned. "Koji-kun, you need to take your medicine," he said, not taking his eyes from the paper. "You can look at my pictures with me afterwards."

A hand clapped over his mouth as midnight ebony hair fell over his face. "Hello, my boy-toy. Did you miss me?"

_Nishii—_

**_Daisuke! Get away from him! _**Dark yelled in his mind.

_I can't—he's too heavy!_

Kazumi scooped Daisuke's hands up and pinned them over his head with one hand. "My friends have Koji with them," he breathed against Daisuke's cheek. "If you scream, they'll kill him. So you'd best shut up. Understand?"

Daisuke's mind raced even as he nodded the affirmative. The hand was removed from over his mouth and he was roughly turned over. His hands were still pinned over his head. Kazumi knelt over him, straddling the youth's hips. When he breathed, Daisuke could almost taste the liquor on his breath.

The older boy smirked down at the redhead and pressed a bruising kiss against his lips. Daisuke tried to turn away, but Kazumi held his chin with his other hand. "If you fight me," he threatened, "if you scream, your beloved Koji dies. Let it happen and even participate, and I may even leave him alone from now on."

**_You can do better than_ that_, Dai, get away!_**

_But he'll hurt Koji—!_

**_He's going to die anyway! Would you prefer he die slowly with that damned illness? You'd probably be giving him a blessing if they _did _kill him! Put him out of his misery!_**

_He's not an _animal_, Dark! _Daisuke yelled angrily. _He's a human being! He trusts me! I can't let them kill him!_

_**Then get Nishii off you and rescue him! Or transform into me—I'll do it if you can't!**_

_Transform? But I have to be experiencing love— _The thought was brutally cut off when he felt the cold air hit bare skin as Kazumi managed to wriggle Daisuke's shirt off without releasing his hands. The frigid air immediately caused his nipples to pucker in protest.

Kazumi smiled. "Are you _that _happy to see me?" he taunted.

"Get off me!" Daisuke hissed, minding not to yell. _Koji—_

Finally he saw an opportunity. While Kazumi was distracted with trying to undo the knot in the string belt that held Daisuke's pants up, the redhead managed to get a knee up, and he slammed it into the juncture of Kazumi's legs.

The older boy howled with pain and fell over sideways, clutching his groin, as Daisuke scrambled up and off the cot. He made a mad dash for the door, but the knob wouldn't turn—it was locked! His hands were shaking too badly to disengage the lock, and by the time he made them quit, it was too late.

Kazumi caught him around the waist and threw him back on the cot, pinning his wrists down again and this time bracing the redhead's legs with his own. "Damn, you sure do kick for a pansy," he rasped. "But I like it when they fight. All you're doing is turning me on. Don't forget—one word from me and your little friend is dead!"

"Why are you doing this to me?" Daisuke cried.

_Dark, help me!_

_**Daisuke, I can't—**_

_I'm _scared! _I'm scared, okay?! Dark—!_

"Because," Kazumi hissed in his ear, "you're mine. And you need to learn that. Now shut the hell up and—"

"_Daisuke!" _A whirling blonde mass knocked Kazumi from Daisuke, and a slender body was hurled across the room. Koji got his wind back before Kazumi, somehow, and was back on his feet. He barreled into Kazumi, who was just then sitting up. "Daisuke, get away!"

Numbly the redhead looked up and saw the bathroom door swinging open. _It was a bluff, _he babbled to Dark. _He never had Koji-kun… he was bluffing… _His thoughts bordered on the edge of hysteria.

_**You're still in danger, Daisuke. Go, now! While he's distracted! **_

_But Koji—_

_**Never mind him, just go!**_

"Daisuke, _go!_" Koji yelled, echoing the thief's command.

The redhead managed to get his feet in gear and stumbled to the door. "I'll go get help, Koji-kun!" He fumbled with the lock, clumsy.

Finally with a click the lock came away and he pulled open the door. When he turned to grab Koji's arm and pull him away from the melee, everything slowed down. Time nearly stopped, and he would remember the next moment in vivid detail for the rest of his life.

Kazumi had staggered to his feet and was leaning on the easel while Koji was in the process of picking himself up from the floor a few feet away. He was in pain again, but was struggling through it to protect himself and the boy he loved. The canvas containing the half-finished portrait of the Azumano police commander lay on the floor in pieces. Koji stumbled at Kazumi as the older boy's fist closed around the craft knife. Within seconds it was all over.

Koji fell back to ground, a wide look in his eyes. His hands were closed over the knife handle embedded in his chest. Kazumi was staring at him with a horrified light in his eyes. All three were frozen in place.

Finally Koji broke the stillness. He glanced down at the knife sticking from his chest. Brilliant blood cascaded down his chest, blossoming against the stark white of his shirt. A strangled gasp escaped his throat. His eyes rolled up into the back of his head, and he collapsed in a crumpled heap on the floor.

Kazumi looked up and his eyes met with Daisuke's. He held his reddened hands up in the air, his marbled blue eyes horrified. "I…I…I didn't mean to… It wasn't my fault!" He fell to his knees, silent tears running down his cheeks. He continued the mantra: "It wasn't my fault... it wasn't my fault..."

Daisuke backed up a step, horror-struck. He shook his head in furious denial. "No… Koji? Koji! **_No!_"**

Tears flooded his eyes and he ran. Whenever anyone stood in his way, he bowled them over without a second thought. He ran and ran without direction until he could no longer support himself and he collapsed in the road.

The snow fell.

* * *

**_Author's Notes_**

_This chapter makes me cry… Wish it was longer, though… and I'm sorry again it's taken me so long. Gomen nasai! .:Bowbow:. Domo gomen nasai!! (Does that work?) _


	17. XVII

_**Finally come to terms with it? **_

"What are you talking about?" Satoshi muttered crossly as he shifted through his miniscule digital video disc collection, searching for a good show.

**_Your little pet. He doesn't love you. And you _so _had your heart set on him. _**The voice in his mind snickered maliciously.

"Shut up, Krad." Finally he decided on a plastic case and stood. He flipped his computer on and placed the DVD in the tray. While the machine was reading the disc, he hit "play" on his CD player and made his way to his kitchen.

Hiwatari Satoshi had lived on his own for the past year as a sort of experiment, testing to see if he could really survive on his own. He was sure he could—his parents weren't quite to certain, especially the disastrous week in the mountains. Still, they let him have his way.

Popcorn merrily snapping away in the microwave and the tea kettle on the stove just beginning its shrill whistle, he was right on time. Satoshi snatched up the pot and poured the hot water over a mug of instant cocoa and pulled the bag of fluffy unwholesome goodness just as the microwave turned to zero. A little butter salt and powdered cheese and he was all set to watch the movie.

At least he would've been if the computer had finished reading the disc yet. The movie was a copy of a copy, and not in the best of conditions, and so the machine had to strain to read the datastreams. Patient and content to wait, Satoshi settled himself on his vast, empty bed, popcorn in lap and cocoa on the headboard.

**_You know, I could always take his place, _**the insidious voice in the back of his mind whispered seductively. **_Even if I couldn't find him, we can do without._**

The blunet not-so-politely snorted and leaned against the wall. His head began to throb, and he reached for the remote to lower the lighting. A stabbing pain began between and behind his eyes, and he covered his eyes with a hand. "I wish you'd just go away," he muttered. "You're making me ill."

Krad sniffed disdainfully and faded into the darkness of Satoshi's subconscious. The blunet opened his eyes a crack to check the computer screen. A small square of a notice had popped up, informing him that the disc could not be read.

Sighing, he shifted away from the bed and tapped a few keys, singing along to the music under his breath. "_Kie yuku Fake Light… umare yuku True Light… kono te ni…_" He pulled the disc from the drive and sighed when he noted the countless scratches, small and long.

His doorbell rang.

Raising an eyebrow, he glanced at the luminous clock and noted the time. _Midnight thirty? Who would be calling on me this late? _His apartment was on the top story of a building without elevators—nobody would be coming to bother him unless it was important. Curious, he opened the door. "Hello?"

"Satoshi-kun?"

The corridor was dark, and not much light came from the inside of the apartment since he'd turned down the lighting. Still, there was no mistaking the huddled mass just outside his door. Satoshi blinked and took an involuntary step back. "Niwa-kun?"

Daisuke wrapped his arms about himself tighter, but it didn't help any. He looked a mess, Satoshi noted. An uneasiness filled the pit of his stomach. The redhead's skin was filthy and sallow, and his clothing hung in tatters from his frame. His claret eyes were somewhat sunken, hidden behind a skein of grimy locks. Satoshi noted with a sudden chill that the younger boy's hair resembled dried blood.

"C-can I come in?" Daisuke whispered. "I… I don't have anywhere else to go…"

"Nani? Oh, hai! Come in. Yes, of course…" He stepped back and flipped the lights on. "What happened to you, Niwa-kun? You look terrible."

Daisuke took a step into the apartment then stopped before he trod onto the light beige carpeting. He looked around with big eyes and wrapped his arms around himself tighter. The shivers began, sending chilling recollections racing through Satoshi's mind. The blunet snatched the blanket up off the back of the couch and wrapped it around Daisuke's shoulders.

"You're soaked—come on, let's get you changed into some of my clothes." He led the shaking redhead through the small apartment into his bedroom. He pushed the boy down onto the bed and began shuffling through his closet, pulling out random clothes.

When he turned around with an armful of garments, the other still hadn't moved, sitting with a hollow, empty look in his eyes. Tisking under his breath, the blunet removed the redhead's shirt, turning his nose up in disgust as the fabric all but disintegrated in his fingers.

Finally Daisuke came awake, but not in a very positive way. A half-shriek tore its way from his throat and he pushed Satoshi away roughly, wrapping his thin arms around his bare chest. His eyes were wide and panicked, and he huddled back in the corner. "Don't touch me!"

Satoshi stood there, arms held out at his sides. "Niwa-kun, it's me. _Satoshi. _I won't hurt you. You're safe here." Slowly he sat down on the edge of his bed and held his hand out to the shaking redhead. "Will you come to me?"

Panicked claret eyes glanced from the outstretched, empty hand to the blunet's face and back before recognition and clarity came back to his eyes. Tears spilled down his cheeks and he sobbed as he crawled into Satoshi's lap. "Satoshi, I don't want to go back. You can't send me back. They _hurt _me, and they killed him—"

"Niwa, it's okay! Shh…" Satoshi wrapped his arms around the redhead's quivering frame and rocked him gently. "You're safe, I'm not sending you anywhere but perhaps to bed. What happened? Where have you been?"

"I… they… I don't want to talk about it tonight." He shifted around until his back was pressed to Satoshi's front and the blunet's arms were wrapped securely around him. "Can I stay here?"

"Hai, of course…" Confusion swirled through Satoshi's mind. _Something's wrong and he wants to tell me but he won't. He keeps changing his mind. _"I'll sleep on the couch and you can have my bed—"

"_No!_" An even shriller note of panic entered the redhead's voice. "You said you wouldn't leave me! Don't leave me alone!"

"Shh, okay, it's okay, Niwa, relax," he soothed, resuming the steady rocking motion. He pressed a light kiss to the back of the boy's head and reassuringly squeezed his hands. "I'm right here; I won't leave you alone. Why don't you shower and change your clothes, and we'll get some rest? We can talk in the morning, okay?"

A short pause, then a quiet, almost inaudible, "Okay…" His hand latched firmly onto Satoshi's as the blunet gathered up the fallen clothes and led him to the bathroom.

"I'll be in the bedroom when you get out of the shower," he told the redhead gently. "So whenever you're done, just come on back, okay?"

"Okay…" He stared at his feet as he clutched the clothes to his chest.

_He looks so lost… _

**_More like pitiful…_**

Satoshi ignored his inner voice and pressed a gentle kiss to Daisuke's forehead. "It'll be all right," he promised softly.

* * *

The computer was shut down and the stereo playing very softly when Daisuke pushed the bedroom door open. The lights were off—Satoshi wasn't in there. Daisuke felt a tiny claw of fear worm its way into his stomach. He ran into the kitchen, stumbling somewhat on the oversized black pants. "Satoshi-kun?" 

As if by magic the blunet appeared, looking somewhat startled. Daisuke launched himself at the older boy. Satoshi wrapped his arms gently around Daisuke. "I told you I wasn't going anywhere, _kaji_. I'm right here. You're fine. You're out of the shower quicker than I expected is all."

Daisuke didn't say anything, just stood clinging to him.

"Hn." Satoshi's eyes softened and he held the younger boy to him. After a quiet moment, he asked softly, "Ready to go to bed?"

The redhead nodded mutely. Satoshi took his hand and led him back into the bedroom.

They curled up on the bed much like they had in the cave, with Satoshi cradling the other to his chest protectively. Tonight was somewhat different, though—the air was thicker, tenser. Satoshi buried his face in the other's hair and breathed in deep: the scents of his shampoo and soap inflamed his senses. _Yesyesyesyes,_ he sighed mentally. _Daisuke… _

* * *

**_I don't like being here, Daisuke. I don't trust this guy._**

_I don't have anywhere else to go, Dark, _Daisuke told him for the hundredth time. _And I _do _trust him—I love him…_

He felt the burning in his stomach come back and bit his lip, trying to quell the fire. Daisuke felt Dark's confusion and hurt in his mind. **_Aibou… why not let me take over? You need a rest—_**

_He'll keep me safe, I know he will. I can rest here. _

**_Dai-kun… _**

_Everything will be okay. Trust me._

* * *

During the stillness of the early morning hours, one of the figures on the bed rolled off, clutching his abdomen. Fiery pain spread through his body—neurons fired message after message to his brain, sending tingling pinpricks through his skin. A cold sweat broke out over his skin. 

The pain passed and the figure stood up, a new man. Icy blond hair pooled down to his waist in straight sheets, accenting his lean figure and thin facial structure. Brilliant golden eyes smiled vindictively down on the prone teen sprawled on the mattress.

Slender icy fingers reached out to trace down the redhead's cheek. The smooth, supple skin was cool to the touch. Daisuke moaned softly and rolled onto his back. "Sato-kun…? Your hands are cold…" His eyelids fluttered open. "Sato-kun?"

The fingers meandered across his face and down his throat, lightly brushing over the flesh. The hand then closed around his throat, lightly at first, as if caressingly. But then the pressure increased and began to cut off his air.

Daisuke tried to pull the hand away, but his limbs, heavy from sleep as they were, wouldn't cooperate. "Sato-kun," he gasped out. "Why…?"

_**Daisuke! **_

The redhead's conscious was slowly slipping away. Dark clutched at it, but it was like grasping at straws.

**_Change into me now! Daisuke! _**

The figure smiled in the darkness, an evil grimace of a grin. _"Finally we meet, host of my other soul. But to what end?_

_"Yours."_

* * *

Satoshi slowly came alive in the back of the angelic demon's mind. _Krad? What the hell are you doing?! Let him go!_

**_No. This has to be done, else this war will never cease._**

_War? We're not at _war, _you numbskull! That is enough! I'm in control again._

Slowly the blunet began to win the struggle for dominance over the body, and he changed back into himself. Drained of energy though he was, he crawled over to the redhead and cradled the boy's head in his lap.

"Niwa-kun? Niwa, wake up…" Daisuke's face was unearthly pale in the dark, and a faint bluish tint was brushed over his skin. "Niwa, we didn't go through all this for you to die! Don't die on me!" Satoshi leaned over his fallen angel, rocking the boy's body gently. A faint breath stirred his hair.

"_Get off me, Detective."_

Satoshi froze, then slowly pulled away. The Phantom Thief glared up at him from the floor before picking himself up. "You…"

"_If Dai-kun is going to stay here, you're going to have to get a better hold on yourself," _he spat. _"Krad almost killed him."_

"You know Krad?" Satoshi blinked, frozen there on the floor. "How?"

"_He and I are old enemies. Our families have been warring for centuries. I believe this is the first time our hosts have ever been attracted to one another, now that I think about it." _He sat down on the edge of the bed. _"But Dai-kun is _very _weak—he won't answer me."_

"Is he…?" Satoshi couldn't say it.

"_He's not dead. Just resting."_

"When will he be back?"

"_I don't know." _Dark sighed, then pouted. _"You aren't happy to see me? It's been a while, detective."_

Satoshi blinked. "Are you _flirting _with me, thief?"

"_Maybe." _Dark smiled and slid up to the blunet almost sensuously. _"Why? Are you… interested?"_

The younger boy turned his head, a flush creeping up his cheeks. "No. Not you…" _Daisuke…_

The thief studied him and his reaction for a moment, then smiled slowly. A plot to end the war was beginning to form in his mind, though he still didn't quite trust the blue-haired teen who possessed the heart and soul of the angel-faced demon.

**_Author's Notes_**

_(Daisuke and Satoshi) Where the _hell _did that come from?! .:Jabs fingers at the Sato-Dark implied scene:._

_.:Hides:. I don't know!!! The mutant plot bunnies that twisted this part of the story?! THIS WAS NOT HOW IT WAS SUPPOSED TO GO!!! .:Cries:._

_(DNAngel crew) .:Plots to jump Zan and tar and feather her:._

_o.o;;; Review? Please? Maybe I'll still be here to read them…_

_**HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!**_


	18. VXIII

_Z.N._

_I'm back! Gomen, everyone! School's been a pain lately, and I'm applying to college and a summer camp, and… yeah. Gomen! –deep bow- Thank you all for patiently sticking by me!_

_I was surprised when I started getting reviews so often now—almost every day I have at least one, if no two on this story or another, all asking me to update or if I'd died. Well, I'm not dead, and I do plan on continuing these, all of them. Well, maybe not _Finally Together_, but we'll just see whe__never the plot bunnies for that one decide to come back, shan't we? Yeah. So, on with chapter eighteen, and again, I'm _so _sorry!_

* * *

A pale glow filled the room, dimly illuminating the pasty blunet's face. His fingers drifted over the keyboard with lightning grace, filling the screen line by line with text. Every so often, however, he had to stop and rub between his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. _Gods, he's loud, _Satoshi thought annoyedly as the throbbing in his temples started up again. He looked around the room pleadingly for something to give him patience with the other boy. His eyes settled upon a picture of the adorable redhead.

The picture was a snapshot taken from the school's photo album, of Daisuke at one of the school's affairs a few years ago. He was laughing and flashing the camera a love and peace sign. It was Satoshi's favourite picture because it showed Daisuke in his natural state, calm and relaxed, even happy. The cold exterior that had frosted his face and hardened his heart from the failing foster system and the unforgiving, judgmental world hadn't manifested itself yet. Satoshi tried to remember those happy days.

Unfortunately this technique didn't work. For the third time in the past ten minutes he pushed himself from his desk and stalked from the room to his guest bedroom.

He pushed the door open, wincing inwardly somewhat when it clashed against the wall. However, his momentary remorse evaporated as the sheer volume of the American rock music that was blaring from a stolen stereo system nearly brought him to his knees. The dark-haired teen lying on the bed hadn't noticed him come in. Headphones covered his ears, blaring yet another type of music that could dimly be heard over the stereo system.

Satoshi stormed over in an angry fit and snatched the headphones from the miniature CD player lying on the thief's chest, and shoved the stereo off the desktop. It fell with a resounding and sickening _crash, _and mechanical pieces skittered across the floor.

Indignantly the thief sat upright. "_What the _hell_ do you think you're doing, Commander?" _he snarled_. "You _broke_ it_!"

"I _told _you to keep it down!" Satoshi screamed right back. "I have neighbors on every side of me, and I'm trying to work!" He shoved his hands through his hair agitatedly and took a deep breath to calm himself. "Look," he continued in a somewhat more civilized tone, "I've had three complaints about you in the twenty-four hours you've been here. My superiors are starting to get suspicious. Don't forget, to the rest of the world, Daisuke is still MIA. They already think I had something to do with it."

"_Look, I don't have to take this from you," _Dark began heatedly.

"What other choice do you have?" Satoshi snarled coldly. "Daisuke's tired, he needs rest. You can't help him if you end up getting the both of us evicted—"

"_Shut up! _Shut _up!" _Dark stood abruptly, eyes blazing with a hellish fire. _"You keep talking about what Daisuke needs, what Daisuke wants. You think you know him so well, you think you know what you're talking about. You really have no clue. Do you know what has happened to him in the past month? Well? _Do _you?"_

The blunet recoiled. True, Daisuke hadn't told him, but he hadn't exactly had time, now had he? Krad had seen to that, and nearly killed Daisuke in the process. "I love him. That's all I need to know. I'll take care of him from now on."

"_You love him," _Dark repeated scathingly. _"_You _love him. No. _He _loves you. Do you know how long he was in anguish, agonizing over the thought that you didn't love him? That you'd abandoned him? He was _institutionalized, _nearly _raped, _and almost _killed_, and all thinking that you'd left him. Do you know how much pain he was in? Do you know what it would have meant to him just to have a phone call from you? A letter? No, I don't think so. You'll take care of him? Where were you when he needed you, detective? Huh? _Where?"

The accusations stung, stabbing the blunet deep in the heart. "I didn't know where he was. Nobody would tell me anything. How was I to know?"

"_Do you want to know what happened to him?" _the blunet asked darkly.

Satoshi nodded quietly and swallowed, not at all certain he'd like this story.

"_After you graciously took him home, his family tossed him back to the wolves. Only they didn't want him." _He'd taken up stalking around the cornered blunet. _"So they sent him to a boy's correctional facility. He was teased, picked on, and harassed, but he made friends with a sickly boy who'd been in his position before. The school bully took a perverted love interest in Daisuke. Daisuke's best friend ended up dying in a cold-blooded murder Daisuke witnessed. He died trying to save Daisuke from being raped and possibly killed. _Killed_, Commander. Koji _died_ because there was nobody there to save them. Daisuke nearly _died _because there was nobody to save them. And you tell me you love him?" _He glared coldly at Satoshi. _"As I see it, you're no better than Kazumi. You could've saved them all."_

Satoshi slid to the ground and covered his ears numbly. "Shut up," he whispered and closed his eyes, trying to block out the sound.

"You _might as well have killed Koji—"_

"Shut up," he repeated, squeezing his eyes closed tighter. "Get out."

"You _could've had Daisuke raped—"_

"_Get out_." Tears started to leak down Satoshi's cheeks. In his mind, Dark's words made sense. If only he hadn't sent Daisuke back to his family, none of this would've happened. If only he'd had Daisuke stay with him, like he'd wanted, they would've been all right. It _was _all his fault. If only…

"You _almost killed Daisuke."_

"_Get out!" _Satoshi screamed hysterically, staggering to his feet and shoving the dark-haired boy away from him. "Get out, get out, _get out! _I _hate _you! _Go! _Leave!" _If he leaves, everything will be all right again. Everything horrible started right after this damned thief appeared in our lives. If he leaves, everything will go back to normal again. None of this will have ever happened. _In his state of hysteria, Satoshi's mind would've rationalized anything to take the blame from himself and pin it on the mysterious immortal.

"_Fine! We're leaving." _Dark didn't look over his shoulder, but continued straight down the hall. The apartment rattled and pictures shook themselves from their places on the wall from the force of the door slamming with a cutting finality behind him.

Following him out, Satoshi snatched up a decorative ceramic vase given to him by a horrific aunt as a birthday present and hurled it at the door. The vase shattered, sending shards of pottery skittering across the floor and back at him.

"Go," he whispered, then yelled again, "I _hate _you! I don't want to see you again! Never come back!" Beneath him his legs turned to jelly, and he slid to the floor in a defeated heap. Reality and sanity came crashing back at him. Tears sheeted down his face, an itchy tonic to his overheated face.

In a moment of crushing panic he realized his folly and staggered to his feet. He'd sent away the only link to his only love in a moment of anger and fear. It was snowing outside, the other boy hadn't even taken a coat or his shoes: he'd catch his death. Satoshi lurched to his feet and ran out the door, slamming the door behind him.

The picture of Daisuke on the corner of the blunet's desk fell with a clatter, glass shards showering the floor.

* * *

An hour later Satoshi staggered back into his apartment, exhaustion etched on his face and defeat evident in his posture. He hadn't found Dark. _I was right behind him, _he thought. _Not even five minutes after he left. So why didn't I find them?_

"I'm sorry," he whispered as he stared out the window. "I didn't mean it. Come back."

Outside the snow fell in fat flakes, blanketing the scape with a layer of prism white. Satoshi dragged himself into a set of clean clothing and toweled his hair dry. He crawled into bed and beneath the blankets, but couldn't get comfortable. No matter how exhausted he seemed to be, he could not sleep. Worry and confusion tumbled through his mind pell-mell. He needed to be up and active, rather than lying there and trying to sleep.

He noted the broken picture on the floor and knelt to clean it up. A glass shard stuck his finger, drawing blood. Sighing, he stuck his finger in his mouth and continued cleaning up the glass. _This does not bode well. _

The living room was warm when he curled up on the sofa, staring blankly out the window. He clutched a blanket around his shoulders and tried to think, but all he could think about was throwing Daisuke out.

Krad seemed to awaken in the back of his mind with a yawn. He sensed the unease and guilt his other half was wallowing in and reveled in it for a moment before asking, **_What's wrong _now**

_Go back to sleep. I don't want to deal with you right now. This is all your fault._

**_I've been asleep for two days, how can it be my fault? _**he replied indignantly. **_Does it have something to do with your precious Daisuke-kun? Is he dead yet?_**

_No, he's not '_dead yet'_, don't sound so thrilled, _Satoshi snarled. _He just went away for a little while. He'll be back._

He prayed with all his soul that he was right.

* * *

**_Z.N. _**

_Kind of a cruddy redebut chapter, I suppose... but I'm not dead! Granted, I might be after everyone reads this... It's kind of short and not very good, but I wrote it all late at night, like, _now_. I had a whole nother way at going at this chapter written up, but I deleted it and rewrote it because I was getting bored with the other... maybe it would've worked better... but this way gets the plot back on track. Somewhat... anyway! Babbling... Night! _


	19. XIX

Satoshi had barely lain down on the sofa to sleep when the phone rang. It was six o'clock in the morning, and he'd spent all the previous day and all night looking for Dark. He'd spent all day tired, cold, hungry, and wet. The sky had lamented with him, casting tears of sorrow upon the thirsty city.

Without bothering to open his eyes he rolled over on the couch. The phone itself was goodness-knew-where, but the base was situated on the end table nearest his feet. He ignored it and listened for the answering machine to pick up the call. The tape whirred to life, setting up the prerecorded message, and then slowed as the speakers came on. After the beep, a feeble-sounding elderly voice came over the speakers.

"I'm looking for a… Hiwatari Satoshi-san, regarding an urgent matter…"

"Ugh." Satoshi kicked off his shoes, vaguely hoping to hit the machine with one of them. _Stupid telemarketers, _he thought as he pulled the throw pillow over his head. _They call at all hours, it ought to be illegal, stupid people…_

The woman's voice was somewhat muffled by the pillow, but her next words stopped his breathing.

"A young red-headed boy appeared on my stoop, muttering about something a dark fire. He says his name is… Niwa? Niwa Daisuke-san. If you have any information—"

Satoshi sat bolt upright and tripped over his shoes as he dashed around the living room, searching for the phone. The woman was halfway through reciting her phone number and address before he gave up and instead all but slammed the "speaker" button.

"Hello? Hello, ma'am? This is Hiwatari Satoshi. You found Niwa-kun?"

The woman sounded relieved. "Yes, I suppose I did. Would you mind coming to pick him up?"

After a bit of searching, Satoshi found a nearly empty Sharpie in the drawer of the end table, but no paper. The woman was already nearly finished with her phone number, and so he twisted his wrist up and jotted it down on the inside of the heel of his hand, and her address on the back of his hand. He was out the door in the time it took to change clothes and brush his teeth. He combed his hair in the car.

The woman lived above a bakery across town. Mildly Satoshi wondered why Daisuke had ended up there, and why _Daisuke _had ended up there. Hadn't _Dark _been on the outside when they'd run off? And what was with the "dark fire" Daisuke'd supposedly mentioned? His thoughts were mote wholly consumed, however, with thanks that the boy had been found, no matter the circumstances.

Standing on the porch in the rain, Satoshi was suddenly nervous. What if Daisuke rejected him? He raised his hand to knock on the front door, but he wasn't sure if he had the courage to take the chance. _Come on, Hiwatari, you came all this way!_

**_Coward. You don't need him, anyway. If you truly loved him, you would have already broken down the door,_** whispered the insidious voice in the back of his mind.**_ Why don't we just go home and I'll make everything up to you?_**

Before he could respond, the choice was taken from his hands and the door swung open. A pretty girl, perhaps Satoshi's age, held a black umbrella up over the blunet's head to shield the rain and held the door open. The uniform she wore had a pretty crescent moon design on the front of the apron, and the cloudy blue of the apron stood out against the black silk dress shirt and short, school-length skirt. Compassionate blue-violet eyes blinked at him through a shower of brown hair. She smiled. "Welcome to the Moonshine Bakery! Come in out of the rain." Cheerily she bounced back to let him through.

Flushing somewhat, he brushed past her and into the store. Rainwater dripped from his clothing onto the rubber mats on the floor. The girl slipped his sopping jacket off and hung it in a closet.

"Hiwatari-sama, I presume?" the girl asked. At his nod, she giggled. "I thought so. Gramama is upstairs with your friend. This way." Still giggling, she took his hand and tugged him upstairs. "Gramama said to bring you upstairs right away."

Face bright red, he followed after her. _She's so forward! _he thought. _Nothing like Niwa. He's scared to touch me half the time. Who is she?_

Upstairs the hall branched off into four or five rooms. The girl stopped beside one and threw the door open wide. "Gramama, Hiwatari-sama's _here_!" Cheerily she bounced into the room.

A tired-looking woman was leaning over a bed in the corner. Wearily she stood and rubbed at the space between her eyes. "I hope you weren't rude to our guest, Mio-chan." She cast Satoshi an apologetic glance. "My granddaughter, Hio Mio-chan, Mr. Hiwatari, was raised in America. Unfortunately she adopted their manners." This last part was sternly directed towards Mio, who rubbed at the back of her head sheepishly and grinned.

"But _Gramama_, I try!" She pumped her fists and a determined glint came to her eyes. "From now on, I'll be a demur girl, just like any Japanese girl!" She nodded as if to emphasize the point. Bowing low to the Commander, she said softly, "I apologize most humbly for any offence I may have given you, Hiwatari-sama."

"That's all right—" Satoshi began.

Downstairs the bell over the door chimed, cutting him off, and Mio bounced back up, her eyes sparkling. "A customer! _I'll_ _get it!_" Laughing, she ran past Satoshi and down the stairs, her feet making soft thumping sounds on the stairs.

The woman in the corner sighed and leaned on her cane. "I'm terribly sorry about her. She's a bit headstrong, but perfectly harmless. My name is Harada Rika, and I own this bakery. Your friend arrived early this morning in such a state. I couldn't understand a word he said. When he finally calmed down and gave me your name and phone number, I called you."

"Harada... Any relation to Risa and Riku, two of my schoolmates?"

She laughed softly. "My granddaughters. Mio-chan is adopted," she added quietly.

Satoshi nodded, then glanced over behind Rika. "Is… is Niwa-kun all right?"

The redhead's deathly pale face, stark against the dark sheets, was still. His chest didn't even seem to stir beneath the quilting. The blunet bit his lip and reached out to touch the youth's hair softly. His hand stopped a few inches from the boy's face and hung there, quivering in the air. Slowly he retracted the limb.

"He'll be fine," Rika came up behind him and leaned on her cane. Her hand dropped with a surprising heaviness onto his shoulder, startling him. "Let him rest; he did not sleep until shortly before you arrived."

"I'll take him home. He'll sleep better there, have no worry. Thank you for taking such care of him. If there is anything I can do to repay you, do not hesitate to let me know." After a deep bow, Satoshi knelt and scooped the featherweight redhead into his arms. Instinctively the slumbering boy cuddled against the blunet's chest, his face nuzzling into the older boy's breast. A contented sigh escaped his lips.

Mio held the door open for him, then followed him out to the car, shielding the boys from the rain with her umbrella. Nodding his thanks, Satoshi laid the unconscious teen out in the backseat. He closed the door softly so as not to disturb the boy.

The brunette smiled at him genially, an all-knowing twinkle in her eyes. "Don't worry, Hiwatari-sama. Daisuke-kun cares deeply about you. You two will be okay." Rising on her tiptoes, she pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek, then danced back inside the bakery. The bells chimed as the door closed with a cutting finality behind her.

Satoshi stood in the rain, stupefied. _What does she mean? How does she know?_ Rainwater dripped into his eyes, and he shook his head to clear it. Without a word or a backward glance he got into his car and started the engine.

He could not help but constantly glance in the rearview mirror at the sleeping boy in the backseat during the ride home. Distracted as he was Satoshi nearly involved them in three separate wrecks before they were even halfway across town.

**_Why'd you have to go get him? _**Krad pouted in his mind. **_Aren't I enough for you?_**

_I _love _him, Krad. You are a nuisance. I don't like you._

**_I love it when you play hard to get_, **the voice purred. Satoshi shuddered and pulled into the parking lot of his apartment complex.

Daisuke stirred as Satoshi gathered him up into his arms, whimpering softly and wriggling a bit to move closer to the warmth of Satoshi's body. The blunet flushed softly and pressed a swift kiss to his forehead. _His body accepts me even if his mind won't. _He carried Daisuke upstairs to his apartment. For a moment he hesitated in the hall, and decided resolutely that he wouldn't leave the poor redhead alone any longer. Satoshi made his way to his own room, still holding tight to the sleeping boy.

Very gently he lay the slumbering boy out on the mattress and pulled the blankets up to Daisuke's chin. Satoshi's clothes were damp and cold, and he stopped only long enough to change into warm, dry cotton pants and stretched out on top of the blankets beside the other boy. He draped his arm across the redhead's waist and pulled him closer. Daisuke sighed contentedly and slipped a little further into the vast abyss that is sleep. Echoing the sigh, the exhausted commander nestled his cheek into the curve of Daisuke's neck and slept.

* * *

Daisuke awoke very suddenly, very alone, and very confused. _Dark? Where are we?_

_**I'm not sure. What's the last thing that you remember?**_

_I don't know… You transformed back into me, and it was raining outside. We went to a store to avoid the rain… and that's the last thing I remember. _He sat up slowly and clutched his head. _It's so dark in here. I can't see anything._

_**Relax, I'm sure everything will be all right. Can you get up and look around?**_

_I think so. I'm not hurt or anything. _He folded back the blankets and swung his legs out of the bed. When he stood, however, the blood rushed to his head, making him dizzy and faint. He sat back down abruptly.

The door opened, and a faint beam of light showed through for a second, and then was blocked by a body. Impulsively Daisuke pulled his knees up and scooted to the far corner of the mattress as whoever it was made their way into the room. _Don't touch me, don't touch me, don't look at me, _he thought steadily, his mindset back in the correctional facility. He bit his lip hard to keep from crying. The mattress dipped as the person sat down on the edge, and he squeaked with fright.

"Niwa-kun?" Satoshi sat very still. "It's Hiwatari. You're safe, Niwa-kun, relax."

"Satoshi?" Daisuke blinked, trying to peer through the cutting darkness. "Why are you here? Where are we? Why is it so dark?"

"We're in my apartment—I went and picked you up from the bakery. You've been asleep two days. It's about two in the morning. I went for a glass of water and came back and you were awake. How do you feel?" There was the sound of something heavy being placed on the bedside table and the blunet moved somewhat closer to the redhead.

"Dizzy. My head hurts." What he wanted, more than anything, was to throw himself at Satoshi and cry it all out, confess everything that had happened in the last weeks, everything he felt, but the fear of rejection kept him huddled in his corner.

Satoshi retrieved the glass and held it out to the boy. "Have some water. Sip it, now, don't drink too quickly."

Daisuke took the sweating glass and sipped at it. The ice chinked softly and charmingly, reminding Daisuke that he was indeed safe and had nothing to fear from the blunet. He leaned across the mattress to put the glass back on the table. He squeaked again when he was sharply pulled into the older boy's lap.

"S-Satoshi? What are you doing?" Satoshi had buried his face in Daisuke's hair, and Daisuke realized the older boy was shaking. Hesitantly he put his own arms around the blunet.

A few quiet moments passed: neither spoke nor moved, content to hold one another in the darkness of the night. Finally Satoshi broke the silence.

"I was so frightened," he said quietly. "You disappeared for a whole day, and then you wouldn't wake up… and it was all my fault because I blew up at Dark."

"Everything's okay. I'm all right, Satoshi, really…"

Satoshi shook his head, or as much as he could without taking his cheek off the top of Daisuke's head. "No, everything's not all right. I don't think I could handle another scare like that, Niwa-kun. Promise you'll never leave me again. Not like that. Promise me!" He clutched at the youth with all the strength of his being.

Daisuke winced at the slight pain, but ignored it. "I promise, Satoshi." He snuggled closer to the blunet and bit his lip, wondering whether to ask the question that was perched so precariously on the tip of his tongue. "Satoshi…?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you… do you _love _me?"

The blunet was quiet for a few moments and pulled back from the redhead slightly. In the darkness his hands found Daisuke's face, and he gently tipped the younger boy's face up. Unsure of himself though he was, he slowly leaned in and pressed a softly sweet kiss to Daisuke's lips. "I would've thought it'd be obvious by now," he whispered softly. "Yes. I love you." He brushed his hand distractedly through Daisuke's soft locks, still cropped and choppy from his stay in the facility. "I love you so much it hurts."

"I don't want you to hurt for me," Daisuke whispered. He felt hot and cold at the same time, like his skin was both on fire and yet frostbitten. _Please, Dark, _he pleaded, _let me have this time…I love him so much…_

Sadness and unfailing love in the dark recesses of his mind haloed the consciousness of the Thief. **_Be happy, my friend_**, Dark whispered and faded.

_Thank you, other me, _Daisuke returned.

"It's a sweet pain," Satoshi whispered seductively against Daisuke's cheek. "I'd gladly suffer it for you, only you. I love you, Daisuke."

"I love you, too, Satoshi…"


	20. XX

_ZN:_

_Hi, everyone! It's Zan again. So sorry it took me forever and a day to get this chapter written and posted. .:deep bow:. Please have patience with me! TT.TT_

_Satoshi seems so out of character in this chapter! .:cries:. They both would be to an extent after everything they've been through, but still!_

_So, until chapter twenty-one, bai now!_

* * *

The sky was a brilliant strobe light. In flashes it was light as day while in reality the clocks over town were striking midnight—at least, those clocks that ran on battery-power were. The electricity had been knocked out for hours. Heavy rain beat a steady tattoo against the rooftops of the city, a pounding drum for those still awake to dance to. The throbbing tempo was a perfect soundtrack to the two teenagers in the upper floor of a lonely apartment building.

He pulled back somewhat in surprise, his eyes wide and shocked. "You do? After everything I've done… everything I _haven't _done… everything… you can honestly say that?"

_I love you, too_. Those four little words, so sweet yet so rare. Satoshi had never dreamed of hearing them from Daisuke so soon. He'd thought he'd have to prove his love to the younger boy, and that prospect frankly scared the hell out of him. He didn't know the first thing about the physical side of love between two men. Well, he had a general idea, but not knowing the details for certain unnerved him.

Satoshi's surprise sent chills down Daisuke's spine, but at the same time set him somewhat at ease. Had he said the wrong thing, acted out of line? He truly loved Satoshi—how long had he known for certain? —but did he do the right thing in admitting it? But at the same time, he felt that Satoshi truly was as naïve as he about these things—not that he knew exactly what "these things" were. As the butterflies in his stomach searched fruitlessly for a place to settle, he nodded. Unable to look Satoshi in the eye for fear that the blunet would see his fear and unease, Daisuke lowered his eyes to his hands resting in his lap and thanked any higher power that was looking out for him that it was dark in the room.

The cool feel of Satoshi's hand on his flushed cheek guided Daisuke's face up. Their eyes met in the semi-darkness, and they drifted closer. The boys' eyes fluttered closed as their lips brushed together.

Something inside Satoshi sparked, setting a fire deep inside him. Their kiss, gentle and asking at first, escalated into something else entirely. Satoshi's arms slid around the frail redhead short of possessively as his lips ruthlessly plundered Daisuke's. Eagerly Daisuke participated, seeking to cool his own fires and set his heart at ease.

The boys fell back together across the mattress without breaking their kiss. Daisuke threaded his fingers through Satoshi's hair, clinging tight to the older boy, while Satoshi's hands skimmed down Daisuke's bare torso. Satoshi sat up on his knees, straddling the redhead's waist, to eagerly pull his shirt up over his head. He tossed the cloth to the floor and traced his hands back up Daisuke's body, pressing the younger boy's hands into the pillow on either side of them. Satoshi felt the younger boy trembling beneath him as he lay carefully atop him.

A sudden feeling of warm dampness on his face stopped Satoshi. Propping himself up on his elbows, he looked down at the vulnerable redhead lying beneath him, eyes soft with concern and dark with love. Tear tracks glistened on the younger boy's face, tracing from the corner of his tightly-closed eyes to his ears. Reverently Satoshi leaned down and kissed the wet twin trails.

"Dai-kun?" he whispered. "Why are you crying? Do you want me to stop?" His fingertips danced softly over the sides of the little redhead's face in a soothing motion. "Dai-kun?"

"I… I'm scared!" Daisuke cried after a moment. Eyes still squeezed closed, he turned his head away. A soft sob escaped his throat. "I'm frightened, Satoshi."

"What are you scared of, Daisuke?" Satoshi made his voice gentle and coaxing, reassuring. "We don't have to do anything you don't want to, _kaji_. Just talk to me, please. What are you afraid of?"

"I don't know," Daisuke sobbed. Flashes of his last night at the correctional facility kept racing through his mind: the heavy feeling of Kazumi on his back; the feelings of utter helplessness and fear as he realized he couldn't make Kazumi stop; the blood blossoming across Koji's chest. "I don't know," he repeated brokenly.

Slowly so as not to startle the poor boy any further, the blunet commander rolled off his would-be lover, but did not leave his side. Very gently he cupped Daisuke's cheek. "Is it me? Are you scared of me?"

Daisuke's eyes snapped open immediately, claret clashing with cerulean in the dim moonlight. "Iie! No, not you." He held Satoshi's hand to his cheek and nuzzled it softly. "Never you."

"Then what?" Satoshi kept his voice gentle though inside he was screaming with frustration. "Please, Dai-kun, _kaji_, I want to help you. But I can't if you shut me out."

"I-I'm sorry… I'm not afraid of you, it's just…" His voice trailed off as he wondered how to put his feelings into words. _It's time I stopped acting like a child and running from my problems, _he told himself firmly. _This is Satoshi-kun, _my _Satoshi-kun. He would never do anything to hurt me. I love and trust him. So what am I really afraid of? _"I guess I'm just afraid I'll disappoint you in some way," he stalled.

Satoshi blinked, startled. "Disappoint me? _Kaji_, whatever would give you such a crazy idea? I _love _you, you could never disappoint me!"

Daisuke fidgeted. "I've never done… I mean, I don't know how… I mean, I'm not a complete idiot, I have a basic idea, but…" Flushing a shade to match his hair perfectly, Daisuke glared at the pillow beneath his head. Embarrassment fairly radiated from him.

He couldn't help it: Satoshi burst out laughing. Anger and hurt fused in the pit of the redhead's stomach, tempered with acute humiliation, and he sat up, pulling the covers from his lap and moving to leave. "Well _excuse _me if I'm not little mister experienced!"

Still chuckling, Satoshi pulled him back, enveloping the frail boy in his arms. He pressed his face into the delicate curve of Daisuke's neck and held tight to his shoulders to keep him still. "Gomen, gomen, I didn't mean to upset you, Daisuke-kun. I'm not laughing at you."

Daisuke raised an eyebrow.

"All right, I was laughing—but not at you, honestly! At how cute you are." Satoshi smiled. "But what makes you think I'm so… experienced, to use your word?"

The redhead shifted nervously, uneasy with being put on the spot. "You seem to know exactly what you want and how to get it… while I…" he stopped speaking before he could further incriminate himself, a hot blush staining his fair skin.

Satoshi smiled softly. "I don't know any more about what I'm doing than you do, baby." He kissed the soft curve of Daisuke's shoulder. "You can trust me. I'd never hurt you. I don't care that you're 'inexperienced'; I wouldn't change that even if I could." He grinned then, and his hand began to move lower, further down Daisuke's abdomen. "Besides, there's something distinctly sexy about your naïveté as it is, and your first time will be mine as well."

Another flush crept up Daisuke's skin, but this one was the fever of the passion ignited in his blood rather than the embarrassment of his virginity. Still, something bit at his mind, ate at his conscience. He felt almost as if he was lying to Satoshi, but why did he feel that way? _He doesn't know about Kazumi… or Koji… Would he still feel the same for me if he knew what happened, what almost happened? _Daisuke caught Satoshi's wandering hand and brought it to his lips, kissing the fingertips and palm with feathery precision. "Satoshi, before we do something you might regret, I need to tell you what happened while we were apart…"

* * *

Satoshi sat quietly throughout the story, still holding Daisuke's slender body close to his own. A cold hatred built up inside him but took backseat to the anguish he felt on behalf of the two younger boys. He felt horribly about everything Daisuke had been through—he'd thought he'd known. _How could I have thought he'd abandoned me? _As terribly as Dark had painted the picture, Daisuke's version was worse. Softly he stroked Daisuke's sides, back, anything he could reach, trying to comfort him through the retelling of the horrific tale.

When at last the narrative was over, Daisuke lay slack against Satoshi. He sniffed and hiccupped, and realized he was crying. Dimly he wondered when that had started and wiped his nose on his arm. Satoshi reached around him and pulled a handkerchief from the bedside table, then tenderly wiped Daisuke's face clean. He placed his hands softly on the boy's heated cheeks and tilted Daisuke's head until their eyes met. "Hey."

Daisuke reluctantly raised his eyes, but said nothing.

"It's not your fault." Satoshi brushed his fingertips across Daisuke's temples. "It's not. None of this is your fault. It's just a series of bad events."

"He _died_, Satoshi—" Daisuke choked on a sob.

"Shh." Satoshi gathered the distraught redhead to him, stroking his hair and back. "I know it was bad, baby, but you can't blame yourself."

Daisuke buried his face in Satoshi's chest and hiccupped over a sigh, then sat straight up and pressed his lips urgently to the blunet's. Surprised and no little bit startled, Satoshi resisted for a moment.

"Don't you love me?" Daisuke asked when Satoshi didn't kiss him back.

"Of course I do, I just don't—"

"Then love me." Daisuke looped his arms around the blunet's neck. He rolled back onto the bed, pulling the older boy down with me. "Make them all go away. Please, make it all stop. _Love me_."

"Niwa—"

"Say my name." But betraying his own order, Daisuke silenced him by engaging in their hottest kiss yet.

Satoshi could feel his control slipping through his fingers but he didn't know what to do about it. He fisted his hands in the pillow on either side of Daisuke's head, nearly whimpering as the silky strands of Daisuke's hair snaked across the bare backs of his hands. Why was Daisuke acting so possessive?

"Say it." Daisuke ground his hips into Satoshi's. His hands were busy trying to touch every inch of the blunet's body at once and kept tripping over one another. His nails were leaving tiny angry furrows in the older boy's pale skin.

Satoshi whimpered at the delicious feelings and tried futilely once more to regain control of the situation. "Niwa—"

"Say it!" Daisuke all but shouted. "Say my name!"

Satoshi sat up suddenly, grabbing the redhead's hands. He held onto his wrists tightly, holding them securely against his chest. Daisuke struggled against the restraints, yelling over and over for Satoshi to call his name, begging for that one word. Tears were streaming down his cheeks angrily.

"_Daisuke!_" Satoshi brought the back of his hand against the redhead's cheek; not hard, just enough to get his attention. The tears stopped abruptly, glimmering in Daisuke's eyes, transforming them into translucent rubies.

"S-sa-Satoshi?" he whimpered, his voice watery.

"Stop it, Daisuke," Satoshi said, his voice softer now. "This isn't you."

The younger boy shrank back against the mattress. "I'm sorry, Satoshi…"

"Go to sleep." He placed his hand lightly over Daisuke's eyes. "It's okay, just… get some rest, okay?" Slowly he moved off the redhead.

"Okay," he whispered back. "I'm sorry…" He reached out and caught the material of Satoshi's pants. "Stay with me? I'm sorry, I am, I'll behave, I'll be quiet, anything, just don't leave me."

Slowly Satoshi sank back onto the bed. "What do you want me to do?" he asked almost harshly.

Daisuke sniffed and wiped at his eyes with the heel of his other hand. "Just stay with me." The tears had started up again. "I won't try anything, I swear. I just don't want to be alone again."

Guilt washed over Satoshi and he took Daisuke's hands away from his face. He pressed soft kisses to the tears. "Shh, Daisuke, it's all right. Just go to sleep, okay? I won't leave you. Here." He pulled the boy up a little until his head rested in Satoshi's lap. Softly he stroked the younger boy's tresses, gently scratching his scalp. "See? I'm right here. It's okay."

Daisuke hiccupped again on something that was half cough, half sob. "Thank you…"

"Shh," he soothed. "Go on to sleep. I'll stay by you."

All was quiet for the longest time. Daisuke's breathing had evened out and deepened. Satoshi sighed and leaned against the wall. His fingers automatically continued their mindless journeys through Daisuke's hair. Then, out of the darkness, came a soft, shivery voice.

"I love you, Satoshi."

He smiled tiredly. "I love you, too."

* * *

The sudden cool of the bed brought Daisuke up from the dregs of sleep. Pale moonlight filtered in through the open window, he could see it through his closed eyelids. He heard a voice from the darkness of the hall, but his sleep-drugged mind wouldn't process the words properly. Dully he rolled over and tried to coax his eyes open and his mind alert, but both stubbornly ignored him.

When the voice came into the room, Daisuke was about to fall asleep again, but at the sound of his name, his body decided to cooperate. His eyes slitted open. Satoshi was on the phone, his voice hushed, but Daisuke could make the words out now.

"I don't know about Niwa. I'm going away for a while," he said to the person on the other end. "I just need some time to myself… to think some stuff out."

The sounds of another person talking—it was a female, from the pitch.

"No, I'm going by myself." He cast a hurried glance towards the bed, and Daisuke immediately shut his eyes. "I'll be fine. I'll be back in a few weeks, or something. I don't know yet… No, I haven't been planning this, I just have a lot on my mind right now… Okay, I'll call you when I get back. I love you, too." The phone clicked, and the line was terminated. Daisuke heard Satoshi place it on the stand on the beside table, then the mattress dipped down again as the blunet slid back into bed. He gathered the supposedly-slumbering redhead into his arms and sighed deeply, his face buried deep in Daisuke's hair.

In the darkness, a single tear slid down Daisuke's cheek.


End file.
